Marissa ends up in a Boot Cast

On Monday, the first day of official practices, Marissa was running with the girls at Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve and tripped over a root, rolling her ankle.  She just got back up and kept running.  She ran another 20 minutes after the fall.  She said it hurt a little, but not too bad until she got in the car to come home.  She didn't say anything because that day we were car pooling and she was riding home with Katie Walker.  As soon as she got home she told me she hurt her foot.  We iced it, wrapped it, elevated it and I gave her Aleve.  WOW!

Not the thing you want to have happen on the first day of official practices.  I told her she will need to rest it.  It probably is a bad sprain but time will tell.  "Let's see if the swelling goes down and if you can put weight on it."

The next day she went to practice just to support the team!  While there the coach suggested taking her to see Lyne, the school trainer.  I drove her up to the school at her suggestion.  Lyne looked at it and felt that it could be a break, just because of the location - the pain is located directly over the bone.  UGH!!!  Bone breaks take so long to heal.  We made an appointment to see Dr. Grossfeld for Wednesday at 11:00 a.m.  In the meantime I wasn't happy with waiting that long so I took Marissa to an Urgent Care on Tuesday.  They took x-rays but felt the problem lied in the growth plate area and she wasn't comfortable making a diagnosis.  She suggested going to see an Orthopedic Specialist.  Good thing I already have an appointment set up for tomorrow.  Wow.  I was hoping to get an answer today, but we still have to wait until tomorrow.

Wednesday morning I took Marissa into see Dr. Grossfeld.  We sat in the waiting room for over an hour.  Finally we were called back and seen.  She diagnosed Marissa has having a fracture in her growth plate.  She said the growth plate was getting smaller (just a little more growing to do), but it is the weakest area of the bone.  She had Marissa fitted for a "boot cast" and we are to return in 2 weeks.  My heart sank when she said, "Hopefully it  will be a quick recovery, only 6 weeks."  SIX WEEKS!  That's right up to the first race - the Tiger Run.  UGH!!! 

Poor Marissa.  XC is her first love - her true sport.  She's waited for the chance to really excel this year, as she did last year.  She was determined not to keep up her work outs but now she will be taking the next 6 (or less) weeks off to recover.  Luckily, the doctor did give Marissa advice on exercises she can do to keep her cardio up, endurance up, and form.  She will be okay!

Marissa in her new boot cast