It has been suggested to me that I share my oldest son's summer with this forum by a couple of people that I have a great deal of respect for so here it is. My oldest son Alex loves wrestling and football. He is not the best wrestler in his weight class but he holds his own and loves competition. This summer thru freak and fluke occurences my wife took him to the doctor to have him checked out. He had blood in his UA so he was sent to the emergency room for a CT scan, which turned into a MRI plus X-rays. Which turned into a 4 day stint at the hopsital. When we finally saw the neuro surgeon we were informed that Alex had the spine of a 75 year old person that had smoked for 50 years & that his spine was deteriorating at a rate they had never seen at such a young age & his sports career was over! At the ripe old age of 13 everything our family had rotated our lives around for the past several years including moved to a different city was done for our oldest son. After a week of so of shock we had to take a serious inventory with our priorities after all we still have little 8 year old Tommy that is going to be our super star. We switched from poor us to what the hell is our sons spine going to be at the age of 25-30 years old. Thankfully, after 3 weeks a specialist from Childrens Mercy got ahold of Alex's film & discovered that he had been misdiagnosed by the initial Doctor & his spine is not deteriorating but does have issues that require a back brace whenever he is out of bed. With the exception of swimming and wrestling! There are doctor appointments at least every other week but Alex is going to be ok. The inventory my wife and I took made very clear a few things. 1. Most of us on this forum take kids wrestling way to serious. 2. Most of us also take it granted that we have kids that are healthy enough to wrestle. 3. We didn't have a back up plan for something like this happening. After reflecting I suggest you all do the same and as the title suggests enjoy it while we have it. It can be gone in a minute. As a side note, Alex started practicing again last week & I have never seen him so focused.I think he might not be taking it for granted anymore either.

Patrick,

Thanks for sharing. I'm sure glad the news turned out better after further investigation. I'm sure there will be many prayers sent for Alex's health.

We should definitely enjoy it while we have it. It seem like the Kansas wrestling community has had too many reminders of this lesson recently.

Thanks again.

... a bit of forced wisdom!

Enjoy the ride and smell the roses ... sometimes our destination is not planned!

Thanks for sharing, kind of puts things into perspective. Wish Alex and family the best.

Patrick,

Sorry you had such a scary summer. When your childs life or well being is at stake it makes you stop and realize what really is important in life. Leslie and I are really happy for you guys that everything has turned towards the positive for Alex! Thanks for reminding us not to take things for granted and to "enjoy it while we have it". More importantly, you and your family will be able to continue getting ejected from tournaments this season!! On a side note, "any predictions for 6u 39 to win state this year?"

Chad

Oh Chad, spreading bad information. I have never been ejected! As far as the rest of the family, they were framed. Hope to see ya this fall.

PC,

Your story started out pretty crummy, but you finished it with a happy ending. I am glad to hear that Alex will be back on the mat this fall. Good luck, and maybe we will see you after the HS season.

Hey Patrick this is Turner the last time we talked you were telling me what was going on with Alex and I am happy to hear thing's are working out for the better. My family had been praying for your family. You are absolutly right on all aspect's of what you are saying, glad to hear Alex is back to practicing and my family look forward to seeing your family in the upcoming season.

Thanks for the kind words, I will pass along to family. This thread isn't about Alex, it's about us parents and this wrestling family as dysfunctional as we are. Glad I'm part of it.

Patrick -
You and your wife are so right about how we should enjoy it while we have it and hopefully it doesn't take an absolutely shocking, albeit incorrect, medical diagnosis to make us take stock.
#1...Parent's take wrestling way to seriously... didn't think I did until Hunter informed me that he was "taking the year off" from wrestling. I managed to keep my mouth shut while slowly going into shock... hoping he changes his mind and that me not pressing the issue will help.

#2...I seriously hope that my kid has the capacity to continue to participate in sports for as long as he likes. We encountered a pretty nasty football concussion last year that made me rethink the way we approached safety in all sports.

#3... is praying really hard that Hunter doesn't want to "try his hand" at basketball a back up plan???

I appreciate your sharing this story and even though it wasn't supposed to be about Alex - I am really glad that the initial diagnosis was wrong and Alex is back on the mat.

Alison Ostertag

Patrick....I can certainly appreciate your commentary & came across this in my readings. Thank goodness for Alex's ability to "ground" some of us in ways we take for granted & am sure glad he's ok.

Friday, September 17, 2010
Balance is Key

By Responsible Sports 09/13/2010

Balance is critical to a youth athlete’s success. And we don’t mean just the kind of balance that keeps you upright during competition!

We mean balance between sports, school, family, friends and other activities. Fortunately, balance away from sports actually will improve balance (and other aspects of performance) during competition.

Why? Because a well-rounded life away from sports frees a youth athlete’s mind when it is time to perform. Which scenario do you think leads to better performance?

• An athlete arrives at a competition physically tired from training, mentally distracted by loose ends in other areas of his/her life and emotionally drained from a singular focus on sport.

• An athlete hits the mats well-rested, mentally comfortable that other aspects of life are in order, and emotionally committed to the moment of competition, already gratified and enriched from interests outside of sports.

We think Responsible Coaches and Sports Parents would agree that the second scenario leads to greater success. But these scenarios only consider how life-balance affects an athlete’s competitive ability, and Responsible Coaches and Sports Parents understand there is more at stake for youth athletes than just competitive results.

See how you can help create a balance.

In an effort to benefit millions of youth athletes, parents and coaches, this article is among a series created exclusively for partners in the Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports ProgramTM (ResponsibleSports.com) powered by Positive Coaching Alliance (http://www.positivecoach.org).

Alison, sorry to hear about Hunter. I have another friend that is dealing with the same situation. You never know though, sometimes time off is needed before middle school & high school. I hope to see Hunter on the mat soon.