Week 90: Every Doctor in Stuttgart

We saw every doctor in Stuttgart this week, I think!

After Matt’s accident on Sunday, we went straight to the orthopedic doctor in our town on Monday morning, when they opened.

He did an examination and looked at the x-Ray and referred us to get an MRI. We got an appointment for the MRI on Tuesday. They were so thorough and reviewed the results with us immediately. Very luckily, there was no damage to the ACL, which would have guaranteed surgery and a long recovery time. There was damage to the MCL, meniscus, and the MPFL. Basically, his kneecap is dislocated from his knee. The radiographer referred us back to the orthopedic doctor for a treatment plan.

Wednesday, Matt went back to orthopedic doctor who reviewed the results. He was pleased that the ACL was not damaged for Matt’s sake. However, this doctor was an ACL specialist and not the other ligaments, so he was referred to a doctor specializing in that.

Matt couldn’t get an appointment with that doctor until Friday and was feeling slightly better on Thursday so actually worked that day. Friday, we headed to the “other knee ligament specialist” and were anxious to get a treatment plan. Does he need surgery? When will it be? How long is recovery?

The swelling and pain has not really gone down, and Matt’s just been managing with the meds prescribed by the doctor. We went to our appointment and he reviewed his X-ray, MRI, and the notes from the hospital and three other doctors’ visits. He confirmed Matt needed surgery, but it was too complex for him! Additionally, he would most likely have to wait a few more weeks until the swelling went down to have the surgery, in order to give him more stability during healing. He referred us to a surgeon in downtown Stuttgart. Both of these pieces of news were huge disappointments. We are just so ready to move onto the healing stage.

He did prescribe Matt a new leg brace that will allow him to bend his knee slightly, which will help with his mobility, and getting in and out of the car. We drove to multiple medical supply stores looking for one who carried the brace, found one, but were told to come back later to be fitted. Finally, by the day’s end, Matt had his new brace. By then, we were mentally and emotionally numb.

Luckily, we had reservations at Tokyo Sushi, supposedly the best sushi restaurant in Stuttgart. The place only has ten seats and you have to make reservations wayyyy in advance. It definitely improved our moods!

Saturday, Brooklyn and Ryan went on a ski trip with their ski club to Erhwald, Austria. I dropped them at the bus at 5:30 and they were off. We are so happy they will still have a chance to ski this year, thanks to the club. They also have to be completely responsible for themselves- packing, loading, carrying, and gearing up. All lessons I am glad to pass over to them.

Matt and I watched tv and napped all day. Not exactly the productive day I imagined, but oh well. Saturday night we went to dinner with some friends at our favorite Chinese restaurant, King’s Palace. Then, we were back in time to pick up the kids from the ski bus at 10pm.

Matt’s accident last week was disappointing to say the least, but this week has been so draining! We have gotten our hopes up so many times, only to be passed along to the next doctor. Add in the stress of many of the doctors, nurses, and aids who don’t speak English and having to translate everything. Then, the hassle of dealing with health insurance overseas. We are used to having so much help back in the US, but it’s just us here and feels pretty lonely. This is just a time we have to get through, but this has definitely been our most challenging week here so far.

With all that being said, we’ve realized how lucky we are to have our crew here. Care packages, cookies, and treats have been plentiful; friends have taken our kids on outings; Matt’s gotten a lot of rides to appointments and to run errands when I’ve had to go in to work; and friends have assembled to help us move furniture while the construction continues. We definitely have a lot of paying it forward to do when Matt is all better.