Looks like Bruschi's career is all but officially done..

[Herzig]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/patriots/2005-03-16-bruschi-hospital-report_x.htm


Reports: Patriots' Bruschi back in hospital
From staff reports
New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who suffered a stroke last month, is reportedly back in the hospital amid various — and conflicting — reports about the Super Bowl champion's health.

Tucson, Arizona, TV station KOLD said Tuesday night that Bruschi is scheduled to have surgery to repair a hole in his heart by the end of the week.

The Boston Globe reported it talked to KOLD sports director Scott Kilbury, who said he received the update on Bruschi from a "friend of the family" who has been close to the situation.

Kilbury also told the paper added that the procedure may have been performed already.

Meanwhile, a source told the Boston Herald that Bruschi returned to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment related to his condition but said it had nothing to do with his heart.

Another source said Bruschi, 31, was not at Mass. General on Tuesday night, according to the Herald.

Patriots spokesman Stacey James told the Boston newspapers information about Bruschi would have to come from his family.

Bruschi played in the Pro Bowl in Honolulu Feb. 13, three days before he was taken to the hospital after suffering headaches and reportedly blurred vision and numbness on his right side. He was released two days later.

At that time, experts said reports that he was walking and talking normally a day after the stroke were reasons to hope he could play again.

The popular Bruschi has starred on New England's Super Bowl championship teams in 2002, 2004 and this year. He also played in the 1997 NFL title game that the Patriots lost to Green Bay.

Bruschi, 31, starred for the University of Arizona from 1992-95 and has family in the area.

[NaptownChief]

All he needed to do was visit Benny Hinn to heal his heart.

Signed,

Evander H.

[NaptownChief]

Hey Zig...On a more interesting topic...I just picked up a new set of Mizuno MP-32's yesterday....Whatchu ho'ing around with right now?

[Herzig]

Hey Zig...On a more interesting topic...I just picked up a new set of Mizuno MP-32's yesterday....Whatchu ho'ing around with right now?

I'm playing Ping S59's, Cobra 400 SZ Tour, and an assortment of Cleveland wedges.

[siberian khatru]

That's a shame ... about Bruschi, not the golf clubs.

[Herzig]

Hey Zig...On a more interesting topic...I just picked up a new set of Mizuno MP-32's yesterday....Whatchu ho'ing around with right now?

Nice clubs..they look pretty anyway.

[eazyb81]

How the hell do you get a hole in your heart?

[siberian khatru]

How the hell do you get a hole in your heart?

Have Kristi M. tell you "no" when you ask her out.

[Rain Man]

That's too bad. I had nothing against the guy.

[NaptownChief]

I'm playing Ping S59's, Cobra 400 SZ Tour, and an assortment of Cleveland wedges.


Damn near ho'd those S59's myself...They are actually the club that got all this $hit started again. Hit my buddies and felt amazing which sent me back into the harem house hitting those and comparing them to others which led me to liking the Hogan FTX's slightly better than the S59's and then led to liking the MP-32's slightly better than the FTX's.

Also put a new TM 360 Ti in the bag with a True Temper EI II shaft and has done me wonders so far. I'm sure the honeymoon will end soon but about 8 rounds into it has been a dream.

Got a new White Steel 2 Ball blade...nice but still can't knock the Futura out of the bag.


This stuff is a disease....a very nasty one I say.

[siberian khatru]

That's too bad. I had nothing against the guy.

Yeah, but what do you think about the QXR-79 C-series?

[NaptownChief]

Yeah, but what do you think about the QXR-79 C-series?


It's crap....Just ask Herzig

[Rausch]

My Kinda' LB....sucks.

A friend of mine just found out yesterday he's got a whole in his heart and the doctors said they think it might have been there since birth...

[Rain Man]

Yeah, but what do you think about the QXR-79 C-series?

I think there are better droids out there, Han.

[Bob Dole]

That's too bad. I had nothing against the guy.

But you wanted to.

Pervert.

[carlos3652]

My Kinda' LB....sucks.

A friend of mine just found out yesterday he's got a whole in his heart and the doctors said they think it might have been there since birth...

My Daughter who was born last year has a hole in her heart its called VSD, its about 2 millimeters long... they say they heal up all by themselves after a couple of year's, sometimes they never heal, they are not worried for her because the hole is too small, a lot of kids have them now a days, you might have a hole if you never had it checked out, they never used to check....

[ExtremeChief]

Have Kristi M. tell you "no" when you ask her out.


ah.. you're better off. Age hasn't been kind.

[Calcountry]

How the hell do you get a hole in your heart?When that bitch that you thought loved you leaves you.


Oh, I almost forgot, this smiley's for you Chiefs4me. :p

[Phobia]

How the hell do you get a hole in your heart?

It was a fad started by Extreme in the late 80's.

[el borracho]

Well, that sucks. I wonder if this will change NEs draft strategy? I previously would have guessed that they would take a CB in the 1st but now they might need a LB more. Mabye that leaves us an extra CB option in the 2nd. Could Marlin Jackson make it that far?

[Herzig]

Damn near ho'd those S59's myself...They are actually the club that got all this $hit started again. Hit my buddies and felt amazing which sent me back into the harem house hitting those and comparing them to others which led me to liking the Hogan FTX's slightly better than the S59's and then led to liking the MP-32's slightly better than the FTX's.

Also put a new TM 360 Ti in the bag with a True Temper EI II shaft and has done me wonders so far. I'm sure the honeymoon will end soon but about 8 rounds into it has been a dream.

Got a new White Steel 2 Ball blade...nice but still can't knock the Futura out of the bag.


This stuff is a disease....a very nasty one I say.

Yeah, the S59's really suited me. I'm not good enough to play a true blade. Offset clubs drive me crazy at set up. There are times when I need a little forgiveness though. They feel good too. Also, I have a long history of with Pings...Eye 2's and the I/3's... I have a 2 ball DFX(mallet) that I play sometimes, but mostly play a milled Snake Eyes face balanced blade putter(MCS-1) that I put together from Golfsmith for about $35.

If I do anything this year, I will probably only change my driver.

[Rausch]

My Daughter who was born last year has a hole in her heart its called VSD, its about 2 millimeters long... they say they heal up all by themselves after a couple of year's, sometimes they never heal, they are not worried for her because the hole is too small, a lot of kids have them now a days, you might have a hole if you never had it checked out, they never used to check....

Lovely, more $#it to worry about...

[siberian khatru]

ah.. you're better off. Age hasn't been kind.

God, I was hoping you wouldn't be around to read that.

But y'know, I saw a pic in the paper a couple of years ago, and I think you're right. Made me feel better. BTW, the wife knows all about this. We joke about it all the time. She knows she's got scoreboard. :)

[NaptownChief]

If I do anything this year, I will probably only change my driver.


Famous last words of a club ho. :D

[cadmonkey]

His carreer isn't nessisarily over. Some hockey player, Brian Mullen who used to play for the Rangers, had the same thing. He got surgery but didn't come back although he could have. He looks back on it now and wishes he made the effort.

[Amnorix]

The rumor mill is swirly madly and no one has any information.

According to some chatter on Patriots BBs, however, this doesn't necessarily change the outlook for his return. The theory is that it is a very small hole in his heart, and can be repaired by a procedure that doens't involve blowing your chest wide open.

I don't pretend to know diddily about medical stuff, and I assume the Patriots HAVE to take a "he won't be back " approach to free agency and the draft, but ultimately we'll just have to wait and see.

[Amnorix]

The thinking (:grovel: :grovel: :grovel:) is that the surgery may repair what caused hte stroke, and if the stroke didn't affect the nervous system, etc., then he can return to football.



Hole may be clue with Bruschi
By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff | March 17, 2005

When Tedy Bruschi suffered a mild stroke last month, the cause was a mystery -- at least publicly. But a teammate's assertion that the Patriots linebacker is now being treated for a hole in his heart yielded an important clue into how a pro athlete in the prime of life could have been felled by a stroke, doctors said yesterday.

Fellow linebacker Willie McGinest, speaking Tuesday night on "Total Access" on the NFL Network, said Bruschi had a hole in his heart. Tucson television station KOLD also reported Tuesday that Bruschi has the defect and that he was expected to undergo surgery.

Neither Bruschi's family nor the Patriots would provide details yesterday of his medical condition. A spokeswoman for Massachusetts General Hospital, where Bruschi was treated for the stroke, referred inquiries about the Pro Bowl linebacker to the team.

But specialists in cardiology and neurology not involved with Bruschi's treatment said that when young, fit patients suffer a stroke, one of the first suspicions is that the patient has what's known as a patent foramen ovale -- a tiny, oval-shaped hole between the two upper chambers of the heart. The condition can be treated with minor surgery or blood-thinning drugs.

The specialists said the hole can allow small blood clots that would otherwise be absorbed in the lungs to pass from one chamber of the heart to another and then travel to the brain. There, clots that would be innocuous elsewhere in the body can become wedged in narrow vessels, blocking blood flow to a portion of the brain and causing a stroke.

"It's a very common explanation for why young people have strokes," said Dr. David Thaler, director of the Tufts Comprehensive Stroke Center at Tufts-New England Medical Center.

All developing fetuses have the hole, which allows blood to bypass the still-forming lungs. Once the child is born, though, there's no longer any need for the tiny tunnel and in most infants it closes by itself within a few months.

But medical studies have estimated that the hole -- measuring about a tenth of an inch -- persists in up to one of every four adults, but typically with no or few consequences. It does not prevent strenuous activity or even a career as an athlete, and doctors said it's not practical to screen the general population for the defect.

"On a physical exam, you'll never find it," said Dr. Carey Kimmelstiel, director of interventional cardiology and clinical cardiology at Tufts-New England Medical Center. "And why would you? It's not going to lead to a murmur, it's not anything you're going to hear."

In fact, as far as specialists know, it only becomes a problem when a blood clot succeeds in squeezing through the opening.

Those clots could develop in the leg or in the heart or in other parts of the body. They might form, for instance, during a lengthy plane flight, when blood pools in the extremities.

Shortly before Bruschi developed classic symptoms of a stroke -- persistent headaches, blurred vision, and numbness on his right side -- he had returned from playing in the Pro Bowl in Honolulu.

"If you're sitting in an airplane from Hawaii to Boston, the blood is just sitting there," Thaler said. "We make these little blood clots all the time, and usually they're of no consequence."

Even though clots may travel from the leg into the right chambers of the heart, those clots in most people are filtered out by the lungs before they can reach the left half of the heart, which pumps blood back out into the body -- including the brain.

So, Kimmelstiel said, when a younger patient with no traditional risk factors -- high blood pressure, diabetes, history of head trauma -- suffers a stroke, doctors begin looking for a hole in the heart that would allow a clot to skip the lung-filtering step.

They find the opening in about half of stroke patients who otherwise have no underlying condition predisposing them to the potentially lethal attack.

There's no definitive medical research showing how doctors should respond when they find a hole in the heart of a stroke patient. Studies have offered varying assessments of the likelihood of a second stroke: from less than 1 percent to as high as 15 percent in the year after the first stroke.

The hole can be surgically closed, either by implanting a device to plug it or by sewing it shut. Or doctors can prescribe blood-thinning drugs to discourage the formation of clots. Right now, two studies are under way to assess the merits of both approaches.

But this much is sure: Doctors almost certainly would opt to close the gap in the heart of a professional athlete or any other patients whose professions place them in substantial peril of regularly bleeding. Once the hole is closed, there's no reason that the heart condition, doctors said, should preclude a professional football player from returning to the field.

Instead, a return to play would depend on the extent of neurological damage resulting from the stroke.

"If [Bruschi's] nervous system is functioning normally and the cause of his event was thought to be patent foramen ovale and if that gets closed," Thaler said, "then he should be able to return to a normal life, vigorous and violent as he likes."

It is the sort of active life cherished by Stran Smith -- both before and after his stroke. He was 32 and a professional rodeo cowboy when he suddenly lost the ability to speak.

Diagnosis: a stroke.

"The first specialist said to me, `There's other things that you can do with your life,' " Smith recalled yesterday during a telephone interview from Houston, where he was preparing for a rodeo. "He said, `You'll live to an old and happy age, but you can't do what you do.' And I live to do what I do, which is the rodeo."

Later tests revealed the true culprit in Smith's stroke: a patent foramen ovale.

"Before all of this, nothing at all was wrong with me," Smith said. "It was hard to understand. It was pretty amazing to me."

Ultimately, he wound up at Tufts-New England Medical Center to have the hole fixed. That was two Mays ago, and these days, he's back roping calves.

[KCTitus]

Inside LB's dont come back from head injuries and strokes....Hackett 'retired' after an inner ear issue, the Patriots draft pick of the Ohio State phenom LB never panned out due to 'headaches'.

The position is too violent to be messing with someone with a head issue.

[nmt1]

Inside LB's dont come back from head injuries and strokes....Hackett 'retired' after an inner ear issue, the Patriots draft pick of the Ohio State phenom LB never panned out due to 'headaches'.

The position is too violent to be messing with someone with a head issue.

Katzenmoyer.

[C-Mac]

Bruschi is great LB and has the best football name in the league.
Hope he makes a wise decision.

[Boozer]

That's too bad. I had nothing against the guy.

He's a UA alum, so I hate him, but I wouldn't wish those health problems on anyone. Here's hoping he gets back in the league.

[cadmonkey]

Inside LB's dont come back from head injuries and strokes....Hackett 'retired' after an inner ear issue, the Patriots draft pick of the Ohio State phenom LB never panned out due to 'headaches'.

The position is too violent to be messing with someone with a head issue.


Katzenmoyer retired because he broke two vertebra and he was scared he would paralize himself. I guess that would give me a headache too worrying about it.

[KCTitus]

Katzenmoyer retired because he broke two vertebra and he was scared he would paralize himself. I guess that would give me a headache too worrying about it.

I never heard the final dispostion, but his initial inactivity was due to headaches. Sorry, I dont follow the pats as close as KC.

[cadmonkey]

I never heard the final dispostion, but his initial inactivity was due to headaches. Sorry, I dont follow the pats as close as KC.


I was just saying that is why he retired. No need to apolagize :thumb:

[Skip Towne]

Yeah, the S59's really suited me. I'm not good enough to play a true blade. Offset clubs drive me crazy at set up. There are times when I need a little forgiveness though. They feel good too. Also, I have a long history of with Pings...Eye 2's and the I/3's... I have a 2 ball DFX(mallet) that I play sometimes, but mostly play a milled Snake Eyes face balanced blade putter(MCS-1) that I put together from Golfsmith for about $35.

If I do anything this year, I will probably only change my driver.
Yeah, you say that today......

[Baby Lee]

Bruschi is great LB and has the best football name in the league.
Hope he makes a wise decision.
I love to watch the guy play, but every time I hear his name, I get visions of toast points with tomato basil and olive oil.

[jarjar]

I sure as hell don't wish that kind of thing on any individual, but a small part of me is happy about anything that helps bring the Pats down a notch or two.