Parents Helping daughter understand surgery is necessary

[Liza]

Hello,
My DD is entering sixth grade and training level 8. She has been a state champion and well as the state bar champion for level 7 for all age divisions as well as placing in the top 10 at regionals this past season. Last summer daughter was diagnosed with Panner’s and after physical therapy and rest of six weeks she competed successfully last season. Three weeks ago, she mentioned that her elbow was hurting and admitted that the pain has never completely gone away . She has a high pain threshold and loves gymnastics. Long story short, MRI showed OCD of the elbow. After much discussion with our daughter, we decided that surgery was needed and the doctor explained to her what her recovery will look like and that she will be able to return to gymnastics. She understands that this season is most likely out as she competes from October to April. She was accepting of this until she talked to team mates and now is fighting against the surgery as she now thinks that the surgery will end her gymnastics. Any help or success stories of OCD elbow surgery would be great! Thanks!

 

[That_Gymnast]

Hello, not my story but my teammates. When we were both in L7 back when we were 10/11 she was diagnosed with Panner’s like your DD. It was a hard season for her in pain until the point where in May she got OCD elbow surgery. She was disappointed but she got through the surgery and it took about a year w/ recovery and getting skills back to where they were. She ended up competing through this season w/ me as a L9 and has decided to move into track as her focus since she’s on the taller she can run really fast but it’s not related to the elbow she’s retiring. Basically get the surgery and tell her this, it will be difficult but it’ll help you not have pain in the long term. Having pain long term will only hinder your progress more - let it be fixed and heal properly now so you have the opportunity to enjoy gymnastics for years to come.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

There are some stories here:

Parents - OCD elbow return to gymnastics success?

I'm looking for success stories of returning to gymnastics after OCD in the elbow especially without surgery. There isn't a lot on the Internet about it. My daughter is a L7 and she just turned 11. She was diagnosed with OCD in March, we are now on month 4 of no activity on that arm. She...

chalkbucket.com

My main thought is this: OCD of the elbow is thought to be a joint stress injury. She has 3 options.
1. ignore it and keep training through the pain: This will probably just make the injury worse. Worst case (I think, I'm not a doctor): If she does this, she may risk having elbow problems for the rest of her life as well as having to stop gymnastics entirely.
2. Try conservative treatment: she'll be out of the sport for maybe 6 months I expect, and it probably won't help based on her medical history. Best case she's just out for months and then returns, and worst case she returns and needs treatment again, taking her out of the sport again, missing not just the one season but the one after as well.
3. Try operative treatment: She'll be out for maybe 6 months? Maybe a bit more? But then she has the best odds of it not returning and being able to compete

Honestly, I think it comes down to "if you need to take time away anyway, might as well treat it properly and hope to be done with it." Otherwise instead of just this season, you're just risking your next season, and maybe your entire career.

Would it also help to make a plan with her coaches and PT to see what she can still do in the months after surgery. I assume she can still go to training and do some things there. For example squats? Certain other strength and flexibility drills? Perhaps any technical drills that don't involve use of elbow (like practising relevé for turns). For some, having a plan and knowing they can still do some things can help.

I'm saying all this based on surgery really being needed. Myself, I just opted out of a surgery because the doctor sais it's safe to continue training without surgery, and I can have the surgery when I'm doing mentally better (I am doing quite poorly right now mentally). So if it is a legitimate option not to have surgery, my opinion would be a bit different. But it sounds like in her situation, it's really needed and unavoidable. Allow her the space to be angry at it, to be unhappy with it, but be realistic about the fact that if she wants to stay in the sport beyond this season, this is her best chance.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

My daughter is also unfortunately dealing with this diagnosis, just found out last week.

She’s seen two teammates go through it, one had surgery on both elbows 2 years ago, and came back and competed level 7 around 7 months post-surgery. She’s competing HS gymnastics now (around a level 8). Another teammate was in HS when diagnosed and went the full rest route her sophomore year. She’s now about to be a sophomore at a top D1 school. So a rare case where full rest actually worked.

In my daughter’s case we’re still waiting for an MRI and to get opinions from specialists. (Make sure you see a ROCK or ROCKET Dr!!!) But we’ve already set expectations that surgery is likely, we don’t want to waste time with rest unless the Dr truly thinks that’s the best route. My daughter was set to compete level 10 in January, so will likely sit this season out, but should know more in 2-3 weeks. Feel free to DM me if you want to chat. There’s also a good Facebook group with tons of info, and success stories. https://www.facebook.com/share/FqezQWNFELvYeHwa/?mibextid=K35XfP

 

[Liza]

The success stories have made her feel so much better! While the surgery is definitely not the way we thought this season was going she has accepted it and is starting to come to terms with the idea that she most likely will not compete this season. The patient coordinator who schedules the surgeries is calling us on Monday and we plan to take the first available spot. She currently is still going to practice and doing conditioning and other elements that don’t involve her elbow.

 

[NYGymfamily]

So thankful this thread came up right about now! My DD (16, Xcel Diamond) is currently going through what we are 99.9% sure is an OCD injury in her left elbow. Getting an MRI on Sunday to confirm/figure out the stage of the injury, so surgery is a possiblity. Given that she's 16 and has closed growth plates + her symptoms, surgery is definitely on the table and likely. She experiences a lot of clicking/popping/cracking, of course pretty bad pain from doing activity/gymnastics, catching when she tries to straighten her arm all the way, and feels like she can literally push a piece of cartilage into her bone (also can anyone with OCD relate to that last one??). For DD, she is looking for a career in sports medicine, so she is very doctor brained on this, she literally know the anatomy of the whole arm, and all of the OCD symptoms, stages, treatments, surgery options, you name it, she knows it. She's super bummed about likely missing this upcoming season, but does appreciate the medical aspect of it, which is helping her cope. She's also been on 'gymnastics lockdown' for about a month now, and we want to try to leave her with as much gymnastics time left, so she's honestly hoping that she can do surgery to help repair rather than staying on total rest and then finding out mid "season" that she needs surgery and potentially being out for most of her senior year. Sorry if this didn't answer your questions, but just wanted to share our story so far and we have sympathy for your situation! If anyone wants to DM me with advice/ or similar stories that would be appreciated!

 

[Liza]

And surgery is scheduled for next surgery. She is so ready now to get the surgery and start healing.

 

[Liza]

Oops meant to type next Thursday.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

And surgery is scheduled for next surgery. She is so ready now to get the surgery and start healing.

Glad she came around and is willing to do the surgery. Which surgery is she having? Drilling? OATS?

 

[Liza]

Glad she came around and is willing to do the surgery. Which surgery is she having? Drilling? OATS?

Drilling

 

[Jaxh0le]

Hi @Liza! How is your daughter doing after surgery? Has she returned to conditioning and other gym activities? Curious if there is something she is enjoying or helping with the mental/emotional stress that comes with an injury like this also?

My 9 year old had drilling done for an unstable OCD lesion in her elbow on 8/19. Unfortunately, she also had a cartilage fragment that had to be removed as well. She had no pain leading up to the diagnosis until the cartilage actually broke off. This is when the pain started and she couldn’t straighten her arm. We just found out she also has an unstable OCD in her other elbow that will require surgery however she has no pain in the arm. We are doing the surgery to hopefully avoid further injury since it appears to be unstable.

I’m trying to keep her spirits up, activity and strength even though she can’t use her right arm. She’s a very active girl so this has been so hard for her. She’s dead set on returning to gymnastics, but another surgery will likely put her out for the season.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

Another OCD surgery mom checking in. My daughter had OATS in her elbow with a graft from her knee on 8/28. For being less than 2 weeks post surgery she’s doing ok. The knee recovery has actually been tougher than expected, but seems to be improving daily. She has been going to the gym for an hour to do her PT and see her friends.. but it’s hard. It’s going to be a long few months. She was supposed to be a first year 10 so is taking the season off, there’s just no way to go from cleared to competition ready in a few weeks, and that’s assuming she’s cleared in 6 months.

We just found out she also has an unstable OCD in her other elbow that will require surgery however she has no pain in the arm. We are doing the surgery to hopefully avoid further injury since it appears to be unstable.

it’s unfortunately very common to show up in both elbows. There’s a great Facebook group for OCD in adolescents. Let me know if you need the link. It’s been a lifesaver for me. Also if you aren’t already seeing a ROCK/ROCKET Dr. I highly highly recommend getting a second opinion. Way too many stories of failed treatment and surgery from non ROCK Drs treating OCD. We flew almost 2,000 miles for my daughter’s surgery. she’s so young, as hard as it will be in he moment, missing a season now won’t affect her future at all.

 

[Liza]

She’s going into the gym for two hours instead of the daily four hour practices which has helped( allowed to use tumble track, able to beam with no tumbling,
practice vault runs and work on her dance sections of her floor routine ). That being said while she has made peace with not competing this season, she’s really struggling with watching her teammates work on upgrades knowing that she’s not allowed to do that yet and also knowing that she will either remain at eight or even go back to seven while they go on to nine. Starting PT soon will help her with accepting this more.

 

[Jaxh0le]

Another OCD surgery mom checking in. My daughter had OATS in her elbow with a graft from her knee on 8/28. For being less than 2 weeks post surgery she’s doing ok. The knee recovery has actually been tougher than expected, but seems to be improving daily. She has been going to the gym for an hour to do her PT and see her friends.. but it’s hard. It’s going to be a long few months. She was supposed to be a first year 10 so is taking the season off, there’s just no way to go from cleared to competition ready in a few weeks, and that’s assuming she’s cleared in 6 months.



it’s unfortunately very common to show up in both elbows. There’s a great Facebook group for OCD in adolescents. Let me know if you need the link. It’s been a lifesaver for me. Also if you aren’t already seeing a ROCK/ROCKET Dr. I highly highly recommend getting a second opinion. Way too many stories of failed treatment and surgery from non ROCK Drs treating OCD. We flew almost 2,000 miles for my daughter’s surgery. she’s so young, as hard as it will be in he moment, missing a season now won’t affect her future at all.

Thank you so much for responding! I’m glad to have found this group. It’s kind of a lonely OCD world, especially for how young my daughter is. We are going to start her back at the gym to work on conditioning and be with friends after her next surgery. We had her visit last week and she lit up with happiness seeing her friends.

She is young and we are thankful it happened now rather than when older, but also nervous it will come back. She follows the Xcel program and would’ve competed platinum (working towards L7 skills) this year so a year off still gives her plenty of time to build up strength and get back to where she was.

This is new to me, can you tell me what a ROCK or ROCKET dr is? We’ve had three Orthopedic surgeons consult on her right arm she just had surgery on, but her current surgeon is the only one to consult on the left arm. I’d also appreciate the Facebook group to follow.

Wishing your daughter good healing vibes and strength. Not easy to be away from the sport you love, friends and the start of a new school year.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

This is new to me, can you tell me what a ROCK or ROCKET dr is? We’ve had three Orthopedic surgeons consult on her right arm she just had surgery on, but her current surgeon is the only one to consult on the left arm. I’d also appreciate the Facebook group to follow.

ROCK Drs specialize in the research and treatment of knee OCD

Osteochondritis Dissecans Knee OCD Home - Osteochondritis Dissecans

kneeocd.org

And ROCKET specialize in elbow. Many do both.

ROCKET

A medical research group devoted to understanding and improving care of osteochondritis dissecans of the elbow.

elbowocd.org

Here is the FB group, everyone is so nice and helpful, I’ve learned a ton.

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[Jaxh0le]

Phew, our surgeon is a ROCKET doc!