Chris Pronger's career could be over!
Dec 31, 2002 13:40:29 GMT -5
Post by MPLABBE on Dec 31, 2002 13:40:29 GMT -5
Not Habs related but this is serious stuff.
Pronger bets on last ditch surgery
Risky Business: Pronger bets on last-ditch surgery
By Derrick Goold
Of the Post-Dispatch
12/30/2002 08:29 PM
To lighten the gravity of their trips, Blues captain Chris Pronger and his agent, Pat Morris, began calling the quest to have the defenseman's career-threatening wrist pain inspected by specialist after specialist the ``medical road show.''
Their show took an unexpected and extreme medical road in October -- a risky route to restore Pronger's elite career, not just his career.
Seeking to eliminate the excruciating pain in his left wrist and return the wrist's mobility, Pronger elected to have a high-risk, high-reward surgery called the Darrach Procedure. He is believed to be the first modern-day professional athlete to undergo the 90-year-old surgery. Unwilling to settle for being average -- or, more likely, below average -- upon return, Pronger had what the medical field considers a ``salvage operation'' knowing the prize outweighed the uncertain recovery and potential pitfalls.
``There were elements of frustration at first -- frustration that after a second (forearm) surgery, he wasn't getting better and, in fact, it was getting worse,'' Morris said. ``And then there was fear.
``Fear in the sense that this is severe, this is serious, this is possibly career-ending,'' added Morris, whom Pronger asked to speak on his behalf for this article. ``He's thinking, `I'm 28 years of age. I'm looking at playing another 10 years and all that's in jeopardy.' He had set a high level of expectation for his play, and he had gone through all this just to come back as a below-average player. Maybe that's acceptable for some.
``But not this guy.''
`A matter of rehab'
The Darrach Procedure was Pronger's second surgery on his left wrist this year, and, after meeting with his surgeon in Baltimore two weeks ago, the one-time league MVP is in the second stage of his rehabilitation. Range of motion has returned. The debilitating pain is diminishing. Pronger is now working on regaining strength in the wrist and forearm -- essential because the surgery can rob grip strength, stability and, perhaps, long-term usage.
Pronger continues to rehab from knee surgery as well, and the Blues do not plan to even consider his return date until late January. It is unlikely he'll play until closer to the postseason, if at all this season.
That is, if the Darrach and its rehab works and the risk pays off.
``When you do the Darrach Procedure, all bets are off,'' said Dr. Paul Murphy, the West Coast orthopedic consultant for many professional supercross riders and former head team physician for the San Diego Chargers. ``It takes tremendous recuperative power. Once you eliminate the pain, it becomes a matter of rehab.
``This is your last shot, a last gasp,'' he continued. ``This will be the last opportunity to get the wrist working as it once did.''
The surgeon who operated on Pronger's wrist, Dr. Thomas Graham, is widely considered a craftsman with the Darrach and an expert in the field. He could not be quoted in this article because of doctor-patient privilege. Graham is the chief of hand surgery at the Curtis National Hand Center in Baltimore, and he has served as team physician for the Cleveland Indians. He has written extensively about the wrist and the Darrach.
All of the doctors quoted do not have specific knowledge of Pronger's wrist, but many have also written about the wrist and the Darrach. Other information was gathered from sources close to Pronger's ongoing and lengthy battle with wrist pain.
In September, four months after his May surgery to fix a cartilage tear in his wrist and scour it of scar tissue, Pronger called Morris with the message that led to the Darrach decision. Morris said Pronger told him:
``I'm fearful of things here. This (wrist) is problematic. I've got to get it fixed.''