DD had knee surgery....and we're going to the world

[Jennifer in WA]

My DD (almost 15) had knee surgery 8 weeks ago. She just got released from her crutches yesterday, still has to wear a hip to ankle knee brace for a bit longer. She was not able to bend it at all of 6 weeks and is now just starting to be a little more mobile. She's looking at 4-6 months still of physical therapy. Might be able to start running in about 2-3 months. It's been brutal. This is all from an injury playing soccer last August that went mis-diagnosed for 4 months.

We went to DL back in December, before we knew just how bad her injury was and that she was going to need surgery. She was able to walk around pretty well then, but we ended up needing to get her a wheelchair by the end of the second day. She wasn't thrilled at first, but felt so much better in it.

So, my question is - we are going to WDW for 7 days in about 3 weeks. Anyone here dealt with this before? She won't be able to run at all and walking for 7 days all day might be a bit much. Should we plan on getting a wheelchair for the days when she's just wiped? We still need to ask the doctor about the waterparks. She might be able to do some things, but some of the slides that you force down on your legs will be out. And then there's all the stairs.

Sorry for the long post, just trying to sort out how we are going to do this. Want to still make it a fabulous trip for her. This was all planned long before we knew she would need surgery and there is no way she would want us to postpone. It's just a much longer recovery than we ever thought.

 

[merryweather20]

My DD (almost 15) had knee surgery 8 weeks ago. She just got released from her crutches yesterday, still has to wear a hip to ankle knee brace for a bit longer. She was not able to bend it at all of 6 weeks and is now just starting to be a little more mobile. She's looking at 4-6 months still of physical therapy. Might be able to start running in about 2-3 months. It's been brutal. This is all from an injury playing soccer last August that went mis-diagnosed for 4 months.

We went to DL back in December, before we knew just how bad her injury was and that she was going to need surgery. She was able to walk around pretty well then, but we ended up needing to get her a wheelchair by the end of the second day. She wasn't thrilled at first, but felt so much better in it.

So, my question is - we are going to WDW for 7 days in about 3 weeks. Anyone here dealt with this before? She won't be able to run at all and walking for 7 days all day might be a bit much. Should we plan on getting a wheelchair for the days when she's just wiped? We still need to ask the doctor about the waterparks. She might be able to do some things, but some of the slides that you force down on your legs will be out. And then there's all the stairs.

Sorry for the long post, just trying to sort out how we are going to do this. Want to still make it a fabulous trip for her. This was all planned long before we knew she would need surgery and there is no way she would want us to postpone. It's just a much longer recovery than we ever thought.

With a hip to ankle brace, maybe think about renting a wheel-chair off-site. This way they should be able to have appropriate support for her one leg. Am I correct in assuming she won't be able to bend her one leg? This would make it difficult to sit in many of the rides.

I would plan on getting a wheel-chair for all days. Walking around at school etc. vs. walking around at WDW will be a big difference. It will also prevent major discomfort from her brace with the heat and the humidity.

 

[Jennifer in WA]

The leg brace has joints and she can bend it now. She won't have to wear the brace by the time we go, but we may take it with us so that she can put it on if she feels she needs to. She an also wear a neoprene type sleeve for extra support.

I don't think we will need a wheelchair full time, but might rent one when she gets tired from all the walking and if it starts to hurt.

When we were in DL we got her one at the end of the last day. When we went to space mountain, the wheelchair line was really long, so we ended up going the "walking way" and that was a lot of walking for her, but not much of a line. For Indiana Jones, they had a great way of taking wheelchair riders on. She could walk to get on the ride, but she was able to avoid the long time of standing in a line.

Guess we'll have to "play it by ear" down there and see how she does. She should have full range of motion by then, but not back to 100%, no running and I'll be worried about her getting bumped around on the water slides.