Roller coaster of a week!

This was a tough week of ups and downs. Mia Rose did a great job of getting her full bar routine competition ready and showing her coach full routines every day at practice (minus a dismount since she is still not allowed to land on her foot). Showing full routines every day this week was required for all of the athletes who are going to compete at a meet in Las Vegas next weekend. She was very excited to have put her full routine together in time for the Las Vegas meet after having to miss 6-10 weeks of training several of her most difficult skills after surgery. We had all (including her coach) thought that Mia Rose would be competing bars in Las Vegas with layout to her back for a dismount. Unfortunately, the head coach of the entire program told her regular coach that she cannot compete without a doctor’s note clearing her to land. Since the screws are still in her foot, we are not able to get that. Mia Rose was heartbroken since not only did that mean she can’t compete, but it also meant that our trip to Las Vegas with her teammates, that she has been looking forward to all year, was not going to happen. It was nice to see how much her coach wanted her to be able to compete…he commented “she’s worked so hard and deserves to be able to show what she’s done” and did everything he could to make it possible for her to compete, but it seems there is a rule in place that simply won’t allow it.

The very important silver lining is that because we will not be traveling, we were able to move up her hardware removal surgery date.  Her surgeon will now be removing her screws on February 9th, instead of the 16th. Which means that she will be recovered from the second surgery and able to do more in the gym a week sooner than she would have been. So we’re focusing on that and the opportunities that it provides. The extra month to polish her bar routine before she competes it will make it even prettier than it is now too.

The other big thing that happened this week is that the ARPwave system that the doctor prescribed to try to help resolve the “disuse atrophy” that she has in her left leg because of being immobilize for so long arrived and she did her first treatment with yesterday. The treatment phase is very uncomfortable but the recovery phase felt good. With any luck this will help her to get her strength back more quickly on the left side, and it is also supposed to help correct any imbalances that could contribute to injury in the future. This is in addition to all of the work that she’s doing in PT and at the gym.

She’s now walking with almost no limp at all, just 11 weeks post surgery. VIDEO: https://youtu.be/VPNqvxwz8a0

Here’s hoping that next week is free of negative surprises and that the screw removal surgery is as quick and uneventful as the doctor expects. We are looking forward to being in the next phase of the recovery process very soon.