u/Altruistic-Might-351

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to hear from anyone who has experience with a tibial plateau fracture, especially multi-sport athletes or parents/coaches of high school athletes. My daughter runs cross-country in the Fall and competes in Javelin, Sprints, and jumps in the Spring Track and Field season. 

During a May 2026 4x100 relay at a track and field meet, my daughter (Sophomore at the time) sustained a 2–3 mm lateral tibial plateau fracture that required ORIF (plate and 8 screws), also in May 2026. Fortunately, the fracture was relatively small, but because it involved the joint surface, surgery was recommended to restore the alignment.

We're following her orthopedic surgeon's rehabilitation plan and understand that everyone's recovery is different. She is now almost 6 weeks post-op. She has been participating in physical therapy 2x per week since her injury. We're not looking for medical advice to replace her doctor's recommendations—just hoping to hear from others who have been through something similar.

Some questions we have:

• Were you (or your athlete) able to return to competitive cross-country or track after a tibial plateau fracture?
• How long did it take before you were running again? Racing again?
• Did you return to your previous level of performance?
• What was the biggest challenge during recovery (strength, confidence, swelling, stiffness, etc.)?
• Is there anything you wish you'd known during the rehabilitation process?
• For those who are several years out, how is your knee doing now?

It's hard not knowing what to expect, and we'd really appreciate hearing both the successes and the challenges from people who've experienced this injury.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

I’m honestly exhausted dealing with this system.

I used my FSA card for completely normal medical expenses:

• prescriptions through LillyDirect
• visits/payments related to CHOC hospital

The card worked at the time of purchase, so I assumed everything was approved.

Then days later I started getting messages asking for receipts. I uploaded them. Then they asked for itemized bills. Then more documentation. Eventually the card got suspended while I’m still trying to figure out what they actually want from me.

What frustrates me most is that these aren’t questionable purchases. This is literally a children’s hospital and a licensed pharmacy.

I’m already dealing with family and medical issues. I shouldn’t have to spend hours chasing billing departments and learning healthcare paperwork rules just to use money from my own FSA account.

The whole process feels unnecessarily difficult:

• vague rejection messages
• endless upload/review loops
• support that doesn’t really explain the issue
• every document somehow still “not enough”

I understand fraud prevention, but at some point the process becomes more stressful than the actual medical expense.

Has anyone else dealt with this? How did you finally resolve it?