Dave Casler
PO Box 98
Ridgway, Colorado 81432
Young Adult Novels by Dave Casler...
I've been told by publisher after publisher that there's no market for Young Adult novels. I think they're wrong! So I'm putting my novels on-line for you. Forget the publisher! Read to your heart's content--it's free! And, I'd like to hear from you, too! Contact Page.
You're reading About Dan. Be sure to check out About Phillip here.
Dan is a normal kid who loves his soccer. Except everything goes wrong. Everything.
About Series Home
About the About Series
Index to All Chapters
Here are all the chapters, disguised as asterisks. Hover your mouse over an asterisk to see the title of the chapter. Click on the asterisk to go straight to that chapter.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
(About Dan Home) (Last) (Next)
Why Doesn't It Heal?
Dan lay on the examining table, his knee exposed. It was cold in the little room and he wasn't happy to be there, but he knew he needed to do something about his knee. He sat up as Dr. Jones entered the room with his usual pasted-on smile.
"I'm sorry to hear about your mother, Dan. I wish I’d heard earlier. I would’ve been at the funeral."
"Thanks, Doctor."
"How's your knee? I hear most discouraging reports from the therapist."
"He gave up on me a while back and told me to come here."
Without replying, Dr. Jones pulled an x-ray out of the pile of papers he brought in and snapped it onto the viewer. He turned on the light and examined the film intently.
Dan leaned forward. "What do you see," he asked.
"Well, hmm. I think. Uh. Oh, I see. Maybe. No. Hmm."
He turned suddenly and sat down on his wheeled stool. "Dan," he said, "let's have a look at that knee."
Dan knew from experience that when Dr. Jones "had a look," it meant lots of probing. His knee would object for days afterwards.
Dr. Jones unhooked his brace and set it on the table. "How do you like the brace," he asked.
"Uh, it's fine. I really can't walk without it. I tried once and it didn't work."
"What happened."
"I ended up in a heap on the floor. Felt like my knee was going to come off sideways."
Dr. Jones didn't reply. He continued poking and prodding. Dan winced several times. Dr. Jones stopped poking long enough to grab Dan's ankle and gently pushed his knee sideways. It was ok when his ankle moved outward, but when it moved inward, Dan winced again. Dr. Jones was feeling for something very carefully with his other hand; Dan wasn't sure just what. Dr. Jones went back to poking and prodding.
Finally, Dr. Jones pushed himself back on his little wheelie until he hit the wall—not a long trip in the tiny room. He closed his eyes for a moment as though peering into the knee with x-ray vision. Then he rubbed his forehead, sighed, and looked at Dan, his pasted-on smile temporarily absent.
"Ok, young man, here's the deal. Your ACL didn't reattach. Your knee is still loose inside. You've also got some cartilage running around loose in there. It's not life threatening or anything. Nor do you have to have surgery. You can learn to live with your knee as it is now. You'll have to wear the brace. They make special sports braces you can use, though I wouldn't really recommend them for you because soccer puts too much sideways pressure on the knee."
He paused for effect. "Or, we can try surgery. I wouldn’t have to open up the whole thing. I think I can just go in after the loose cartilage and try to attach the ACL where it belongs. If it's successful, you'll be on crutches for a few days, then back in the brace for a month or so, maybe longer. If it's not successful, you'll be no worse off than you are now. I need to point out to you that there's only about a 50% chance the surgery will work, given the age of the injury."
Dan was silent. "So if it's successful, I can ditch the brace and go back to playing soccer?"
"Maybe, maybe not. Even if it's fully successful, you're going to have to baby that knee forever. I'd recommend a sports brace whenever you're on the field, pretty much for the rest of your life. And you may still want to wear this for comfort." He held up Dan’s brace.
"Ok, I want to do it."
"That's the spirit! I thought that's what you'd say. I think we can do it as soon as next week. I'll need your father or a guardian to sign, though."
Dan hadn't considered this. "I'll contact him. He lives locally."
"You don't live with him now?" He seemed surprised.