Sydney, Soccer, and Knees... oh my!

Sydney has had a rough few months.  Normally, she is on-the-go, playing basketball or soccer in the yard; riding her bike around the neighborhood with her friends; running all over the place.  When she fractured her tibia in June, she had just made the elite soccer team for her age group (which was already the more competitive team, and their Scottish coach was taking them to an even higher level) and had the whole summer ahead of her.  She had to miss out on swimming, Universal, soccer camps, basketball camp, soccer trainings, and a whole lot more.

Once she was able to start playing soccer again, in late July, she was very timid.  We all thought she was just nervous getting back in (considering she broke her leg while playing basketball).  She told me many times that she felt her knee popping, and it felt like it was loose and going to pop out of joint.  Mom of the year, right here- I kept telling her that joints pop and it's probably just feeling different since she was just getting back into running and all.  Basically... suck it up, buttercup!

About a month into her season, we realized that Sydney looked miserable on the field.  She hated her team- it was so competitive.  Sydney's a competitive girl and likes to win, but she isn't one that thrives under pressure.  One game she was playing in Roswell, she looked like she was running away from the ball, and it was like a lightbulb went off in my head.  I told Stephen that we needed to talk to her after the game.

We had the best 2 hour conversation with her that night.  She opened up to us and told us that she felt all this pressure on her team, and she didn't feel at all like she was 100%, and she felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders playing her position (ahem, or two not-so-nice girls on the team who like to point out every mistake that others do).  She said she WAS running from the ball that day, because she didn't want the ball in case she messed up.  I asked her if she wanted to move to the premiere team (still travel soccer, it's like the "B" team- not quite as competitive as elite).  She teared up and said she would rather play there.  She said she would thrive on a team where there's not as much pressure, and where she could feel like she's doing more (scoring goals, etc).

So, we talked to her coach the next day, and he was so nice about it.  He was trying to talk us out of moving her, telling us all the reasons why he picked her to be on his team.  He did note that he noticed she was more hesitant ever since she broke her leg, but that that was pretty normal for someone who just had an injury.  We told him she had made up her mind, and he said- Coach David and Coach Andy (premiere coaches) will be THRILLED!  I could tell she felt better already.

So, the following weekend, she got to play with her new team!  Her smile made me feel so good and confident about her decision.  Here are some pics another mom took:

This was after one of her goals.  She scored either 2 or 3!

This was Saturday, October 5th.  Her left heel had been killing her for a few weeks, and I got an appointment that Tuesday with the ortho about it.  He did some x-rays and diagnosed her with Sever's Disease- a condition where your bones are growing faster than your muscles and your calf muscle gets pulled tight by your fibula and puts a lot of pressure on your heel.  She doc said to stay off of her heel for a week or two- so no soccer.

Two days later (Thursday), Sydney is playing tag in the yard with a bunch of neighbor friends.  I'm inside, and all of a sudden, Parker runs in, crying, yelling, "SYDNEY BROKE HER LEG! SYDNEY BROKE HER LEG!"  Oh God.  What a bad feeling.  I run out, and I see Sydney lying on the ground and I look at her right leg and... ugh, you can't get that image out of her head.  Let's just say something was sticking out on the side of her leg- I couldn't tell if it was her knee or a bone.

I, one who does NOT handle panic situations well, freak out.  So bad that Sydney stopped crying and said, "Mommy, please don't cry". ;P Stephen comes out, we go to pick her up off the ground to put in the back of the SUV to take her to the ER.  As we are picking her up in a laying position, with my hands under her legs, we feel a "pop"- Sydney hollers out, then said- "oh, that actually feels better now!" At that point, I figured it had been her knee and it was dislocated.

We drove the painful 12 minutes to the ER... I sat in the way back of the car while Sydney laid out in the back with me.  It was the longest drive.  The ER was great- we got right back there, they did an x-ray, diagnosed her with the patella dislocation, and we were on our way!  We had the tools we needed- the immobilization brace and crutches that she had become a pro on just a few months before.

We went to the ortho the next day, and he told us no sports for 4 months, PT for probably 2 months, and that her re-dislocating her knee is now very likely.

So, that's where we are now.  It's been a month since the dislocation.  She's downgraded her brace to a small J Brace, no more crutches.  Honestly, I think her heel hurts more than her knee (since she had to put all her weight on her left heel when she was on crutches for 3 weeks).  She started physical therapy last week.  She can't do basketball this winter season, and will have to take a long break with soccer.  She literally played that one game with her new team and then bam!

There's a chance that she actually dislocated her knee originally in June and popped it back into place on its own (that's super common, and basketball is the most common sport to dislocate your kneecap in).  That would make sense why her knee felt loose/like it was going to pop out of joint all those months and then finally did when she was jogging up a small hill in our yard.  Second dislocations happen more easily, while first ones usually take a big fall/jerking of the leg.  The doc can't know for sure since it wasn't diagnosed originally, but it does make sense.

She's been really down... she has good days and bad days.  She gets super bummed that she can't do anything, but also doesn't want to do new things that she could do.  Though part of that could be the whole 11-year-old attitude... who knows. ;)

Here are some pics of her after her injury!

On the way to the hospital :(

She had been running in Birkenstock-like sandals and her feet were nasty from playing tag.  The doctor's kept teasing her about her feet :)

Home after the hospital...

A little comparison

Another comparison

Sydney and her friend Parker.  She was with him when he broke him arm, and he was with her when she hurt her leg.  Note to self: don't play with them. ;)

They brought her some goodies.

His dad joked he should've given her a toothbrush, too. ;) She got other goodies, like teddy bears and more candy from the Chase family!

A card from her sweet (new) team.

Homecoming parade.  She had to hang back from all the crazy candy collecting.

Visiting her team's practice!

Hanging with the boys at Hudson's birthday party.  They did a n'hood scavenger hunt- one of the kids went slowly with her, which I thought was very kind.

It's looking better!  You can barely tell that her right knee (to the left) isn't as defined as the left knee (to the right). There's still some swelling in there.  

We are hoping to get her extra-ultra-very healed before doing anything active, in hopes that it doesn't happen again.  Poor baby girl.  I'm really hoping she can get back to her normal self soon!