LIAM STARTING FOOTBALL TRAINING

Hi everyone, as we approach the colder months down here,it means we also approach football season!!!
Liam is booked into a football clinic that runs for approx 2 hours on saturdays.
Although he is very exited im a little nervy,although the clinic itself is strictly drills only and no tackling the last 30 mins they play a game of footy! i have spoken to the co ordinatot today and our thought is that Liam gets the first kick and then has to hop off!
Im not sure if this is right or should i let him join in . I know he will get a little angry/ upset when he will be told to get off the ground. Liam is nearly 5 yaers old and his level is at 25k,Is there anyone else whos children play a contact sport or have any suggestions,The clinic starts this saturday! thanks Jennyx

How fun for Liam!

We live in the U.S., so it may be a bit different, but Brady played "soccer" from about age 5 to 7, and he had ITP the whole time. At that age, it didn't seem like the ball was really being kicked hard enough to do much damage. We figured it was good for him to get the exercise and interaction. The only restriction was that he not be the goaltender. Maybe you could let Liam go ahead and play the first clinic and you monitor what happens. You may decide it's safe enough for him to participate completely.

Brady's 13 now and gave up soccer because of changing interests. But he plays basketball, which has a lot of contact, although not considered a contact sport. He also plays flag football, where there isn't supposed to be any contact but they do get knocked around a bit. - We're probably a little bit looser than some people because we've been dealing with this so long, but we let Brady do most things even with a count in the 20s. The exceptions are skiing, amusements parks, lacrosse - he has to have a treatment to get a count above 75k for any of those.

Good luck - I hope Liam has fun!
Beth - mom to Brady (age 13, diagnosed 1/18/02)

Hi Jenny

I'm with Beth - I'd let him play above about 10K. Liam is at any age where they don't really play hard enough to do him any real damage. I would think that above 20K or so, it would be ok just to let the coach know that he has this problem, and what to do if there is an issue - and that is mostly about calling you if there is any problem, particularly a blow to the head.

Dougie has also played football/soccer throughout his ITP experience, apart from some games in the summer when his count was below 10K. He's also played tag rubgy at school when his count was 10K or so. I am careful to let coaches/teachers know that he has ITP and what to worry about, but let him do most sports.

Hope he loves it, Ali

P.S. It seems strange to see that you are going into the colder months. We've just had our warmest weekend so far this year, and I am really looking forward to the summer months!

Hi Jenny!
We are in the Seattle, WA area and our doctors seem very conservative compared to other areas. My son's ITP started last year when he was 8 and the hematologist and ped had us pull him from baseball and basketball. His counts were usually always below 50 and they said they didn't want any contact sports until he was above 75. We do let him scooter around the neighborhood with a helmet, but they have also said no bike riding under 50. To take his mind off of what he isn't allowed to do, we bought Wii Resort so he can sword fight, put him on a swim team, and play lots catch with his Nerf football
I guess I would heed any words of advice from Liam's Dr's and see where you as a mom feel comfortable
LaMonica
mom to Camden (9yrs) dx 6/09

LaMonica

Dougie saw the haematologist today, his count was 48K. The doctor said that we shouldn't be restricting what he was doing, with the exception that he thought he should be above 50 to go to a theme park. Even then he modified that to about 30K! I also asked him specifically about judo because Dougie wants to start this, and he said that he would be happy for him to do judo with that count I have to say that I wasn't absolutely convinced by this guy, but Camdens activities do seem VERY restricted to me. I guess it would depend on how liable to bleed he is - Dougie tends not to bleed regardless of his count.

Ali

Hey Ali,
I would agree that Camden's doctors are very cautious...probably over cautious!
I have however watched my son and his peers play basketball, soccer, and baseball since preschool and know that they are a tough group of boys! They foul each other hard in basketball to where players are falling on top of each other for the ball. Baseball switched to hard ball this year for his age...I guess if Camden was younger I would press the doctors harder for less restrictions.
His ped is so kind, he offered to put Camden on a YMCA basketball rec team he coaches if his numbers would get to 50k...maybe next year!
Of course, he is the kid that's teacher had him "walk the track" while she taught PE and was playing "kick ball"...wouldn't you know it that the ball hit my son (on the track) square in the nose-talk about a gusher! Thankfully the nurse had it stopped in 20 minutes...
We are still praying for a complete recovery from ITP, even as the year mark gets closer and closer!
LaMonica

Hi Jenny,
My guess is you are in Australia and playing Auskick? My son Xavier is now 15 and was diagnosed at five with count of 22 - he has played Auskick and footy throughout - only played games with a count above 50k and with a well fitted helmet. No issues but some bruises, and when he was borderline (re counts) we had to do weekly counts before games. When he hit puberty things got better and from about 12 until recently his counts stayed at between 80 and 100 so we were very relaxed but this week - pre season, his count is again 22! So here we go again!

Anyway, it is possible to be active, just be careful, lots of kids wear helmets now who don't have any medical issues and Xav has only ever had occasion comments and it has never bothered him.

Good Luck

Trish