BY JENNA KISER,Freshman
BLYTHEWOOD--Late one summer night, Meagan Kiser decided to ride a longboard without any shoes. Breaking her tibia and fibula in the process not allowing her to finish winter guard season.
“The doctor will not know if it will heal properly till April” said Kiser. Kiser is very worried if her ankle will not heal properly because it will always bother her doing day to day tasks in life and with extracurricular such as color guard or winter guard.
Kiser's family wonder why she still does color guard. "I still do color guard because I love it so much....even though after every rehearsal my ankle would be swollen so bad...She told us a time during practice where she was limping off the field where the band director asked if she was okay she said with a look of sincere hurt,” Kiser said.
Kiser tries not to let her ankle hold her back for performing all out in color guard specially because she is one of the captains this year.
When it hurts one of them it hurts all of them
Kiser had two surgeries one in her sophomore year and one on March 2014. Laura Kiser,Mother said " Meagan carefully timed her second surgery where she had plenty of enough time to recover but still have enough time to be able to do marching band."
Laura Kiser said “Both of Meagan’s surgeries cost a lot of money, but it was worth knowing her ankle would get better and hopefully one day be back to normal.” “The first surgery the doctor messed up and could have permanently damage Meagan’s ankle.”
Laura Kiser talked about how she saw Meagan in pain and just knew something was not right with her ankle. She then took her back to see many doctors to find out she needed surgery again. Meagan had both of her surgeries at Midlands orthopedics.
Kiser's ankle really "had no affect on me,” said Alexis Kiser, sister.
The main problem that affected her is they took Meagan’s bed and put it downstairs so it was easier for her to get food, drinks and so she wouldn't haven't go up and downstairs.
"The main person it had an affected on was our mother, she had to take on a lot of responsibilities," said Alexis.
Laura had to balance her job and Meagan all the time.
"Because of her ankle, Meagan gained a lot of weight but now she is loosing it really fast," said Laura.
Now that Kiser can get back on her legs she is doing a lot more than before.
"Now that band season is over I am really interested in doing winter guard so I hope it will not hold me back," said Kiser.
School should always come first
Kiser had to take pain medication every eight hours a day.
Before she could go back to school she had to finish all her medication and go back to the doctor to see if she would be fine.
Once Kiser had her surgery she was not able to go to school for two months.
Because of her absences, her grades were affected in a very bad away.
She was on homebound for about two months with Edith Griffin a math teacher at Blythewood High School as her homebound teacher helping Kiser get her grades up.
Once Kiser could go back to school, she wore a boot and typically used crutches or a scooter to get around Blythewood High and her home.
Kiser's ankle would swell up twice the size of normal not allowing her to do basic things on her own like getting water or using the bathroom. So, at school she needed a lot of breaks and a lot of pain medication too.
"A lot of people helped me along the way. They would ask me if there was anything they could do like help me carry my books or ask if I was okay," said Kiser.
"Going back to school for me was really tough but it had to be done... I knew that my ankle was going to set me back but I had to catch up," said Kiser
Because of her ankle, Kiser soon fell behind in school. "School became really stressful after a while."
Kiser wanted to give up, but her family was always their to support her. To help her and be a shoulder to cry on.
Kiser's ankle has not affected her as much now because of physical therapy. She has brought up her grades and has finished her last season of marching band. Kiser will be trying out for winter guard and hopefully makes it.
"I really want my senior year to be my best year at Blythewood High School and I know it will be.”
