I Didn't Know.

Her back injury has been well documented.  It took her out of her sport after all.  She so loved her sport.  She loved her teammates, she loved her gym, she loved the travel, the competition, the camaraderie, the coaches, the work, the chalk, the leo's, everything.  She loved everything.

What she didn't love was the pain.  Not the pain that came and went, that was to be expected at her level.   She had had surgery.  She had had stress fractures.  Untold hours of physical therapy.  All that is normal.  But the pain that never goes away, that is what she didn't love.  That is what wore her down.  So she said good-bye to gymnastics, good-bye to a college scholarship and college competition, and for the most part, hasn't looked back.

She still keeps up with her team-mates, she knows what is going on in the Olympic scene, she still talks to her coaches.  She IS a coach now.  I thought she had put it all behind her.  Being a gymnast.  I thought she had moved on.  Until today.

Baby goes everywhere with us- even Phoenix Children's Hospital.

 

Today we visited our 6th or 7th doctor regarding this back injury that no one can figure out.  He was our 2nd orthopaedic surgeon.  He is a specialist in sports injuries and he was armed with a fresh MRI of her back. We were hoping he could figure it out.  And he did.  Thank goodness he found something the others didn't.

So he is treating her.  The good news is, no surgery.  The bad news is, it's an almost stress fracture of her #5 vertebrae and just needs support, rest, and physical therapy.  And the reason that is bad news is because it isn't a definitive fix, which is what she was hoping for.

The shocking news is, in the middle of the examination she admitted to the doctor that if he can get her feeling better she wants to return.

To gymnastics.

To 40 hours a week of gymnastics.  Maybe, she said, maybe she can walk on somewhere as a College Freshman.  Maybe, she said, she can work out her Freshman year and get a scholarship for the next three.

I almost fell off my chair.  I was shocked.  But most of all, it broke my heart.  I mean, I knew she missed her sport.  But I didn't know she had been harboring a secret desire to return.  I had no idea.  I don't know how I missed it.  Goodness knows, I watch her like a hawk.  Ask her.

And maybe she will.  If anyone can, it is her.  She took a break once before, for a year.  She was so burned out.  She went back, and almost didn't miss a thing.  At that level.  Unbelievable.

Maybe she can do it again.

Whatever she decides, we will be behind her all the way.

Until the end of time.