The week leading up to the Chicago trip!

Oh my!  Oh my!  This past weekend was such a whirlwind of travel and activity and gymnastics!  What a weekend!  But let me start of talking about the week leading up to the Chicago weekend!  As you know, Sophia hurt her back the previous week and was out of the gym for a few days!  Well, last Monday morning Sophia woke up in a lot of pain!  I made my mind up then and there to take her in to see a specialist!  I was able to get her in that afternoon to see a Sports Medicine doctor in Boston!  The meeting with the doctor went well- it finally gave me a plan to get Sophia feeling better!  Here is the condensed version of the visit - Sophia was diagnosed with a lumbar strain (the doctor said she could not call it anything more or less because of the fact that the muscles in Sophia's low back were very tight and probably having spasms), told to not do any tumbling for the rest of the week and to start physical therapy, and she would need to see the doctor again in 2 weeks!  Of course, Sophia was upset about the no tumbling decision!  I got the physical therapy scheduled (it actually starts today!) and we stopped at the gym on the way home to talk with Ivan and Jacqui about the plan!  After much consideration and discussion with the two coaches, I decided to let Sophia stay at the gym for warm up and conditioning -- with strict orders to not do anything that hurt her back -- she needed to figure out what she can and cannot do!  Of course, the group was doing high knee jumps and that hurt her back -- she ended up doing a lot of calf raises that day and left the gym at 6pm.  She went back to practice the next day with the same strict instructions and was much better at finding out what hurt to do and what didn't!  On Wednesday last week, Sophia decided she wanted to tumble during warm-up!  She kept reassuring me that it didn't hurt!  Naturally I was concerned but her dad and I have repeatedly talked with her about knowing her limitations and to stop when something hurts.  Coach Jacqui had a long chat with her out on the floor after sending her to do conditioning (while her teammates were doing floor stuff) and Sophia re-joined her team on the floor!  She did the floor routine for the first time in a week - it looked good!  On a water break, Sophia came to me and told me that the coaches said if she could do all 4 events at practice, she could probably compete in Chicago!  I was immediately concerned that she would push herself too much and cause more pain but told her to be careful and pay attention to her body!  I know, many of you are probably ready to berate me for letting her do her gymnastics after hurting her back!  Trust me, every possible scenario about what could (or could not) happen has been running through my mind since I found out her back was bothering her!  You know the saying "you can take the person out of the _____, but you can't take the ____ out of the person" -- well that applies here --- Sophia is so passionate about gymnastics and it would end up affecting her more if she were to completely stop gym for a week -- she is in there 22 hours a week!  Going to nothing would make it a longer process getting back to where she was before getting hurt!  Anyways, I ramble -- don't judge me for letting her in the gym!  I was there watching and had friends that kept an eye on her when I couldn't be there!!  Back to last Wednesday's practice -- Sophia did all 4 events -- I covered my eyes when she did her dismount on bars for obvious reasons -- and she looked good (a little stiff and rusty from not practicing for a few days)!  After practice, I repeatedly made sure she felt okay and told her she would probably be sore in the morning (which she was!) and made sure she took her Motrin and put a heat pack on her back when we got home!  The next morning -- Thursday -- was the day we were leaving for Chicago!  And that is a whole new blog post!!  Enjoy!!