Cross Country Update

After finishing in the top five for her school at the first two meets, Jenna now has to stop running for two weeks. She's devastated. Her right knee has been bothering her since almost the start of cross country. On Monday of this week I took her to an orthopedic doctor. He took x-rays of the knee, said he didn't see anything wrong, she could continue to run to tolerance and sent us for an MRI. Before we had the MRI the lady at registration told us that our out-of-pocket expense would be $1900. I about fell off my chair! Thankfully she told me that BEFORE the MRI was done. I told her thanks, but no thanks. We then came home and I called a place called In Motion here in Spring Hill that several people from our church go to. They specialize in chiropractic and deep tissue massage for sports injuries. We went there Wednesday morning and the doctor said Jenna has patellofemoral pain syndrome. This is where the knee cap has shifted and is grinding against the femur. Also, her right hip is too loose and her quad is too tight. He told Jenna not to run for two weeks which is hard for her - especially with cross country being a short season. The doctor gave us home exercises to do as well as ice the knee twice a day. She also has to go for therapy three times a week. So pray for Jenna - she's not one to sit still. The doctor did say she can bike and swim so that's some good news. We're trying to help Jenna see the big picture and help her understand that by getting this taken care of now, she'll feel better in the future and will be ready for spring track.