Wizards medical staff issues

[Benjammin]

Dat, I'm pretty shocked by this as well. Either there is some bizarre disinformation campaign going on here......or.....well I have no clue at this point.

The team is really doing a piss poor job managing this from a PR perspective. Wall has been made to look soft, and now HE says it is a bone bruise? I don't get it, why not just release a proper diagnosis and an ETA on a return?

We don't do realistic ETA's for injury returns. Grunfeld himself has said he always puts out the most optimistic timeline for injuries, which is stupid and foolish because it makes the player look soft when it takes longer and disappoints people expecting their return.

[keynote]

It shouldn't surprise anyone reading this thread that an injury only detectable by MRI went undetected by the Wizards' medical staff for some period of time.

On a side note: how serious *is* a bone bruise? Based on 507's link, It looks like the only treatment is rest.

[Higga]

Every single one of these crack "Doctors" need to be fired and have their med licenses revoked and black listed throughout the sports medicine community. What a joke.

[keynote]

So Wall is clearly taking matters into his own hands.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03519.html

...Wall and the Wizards are concerned about when he will return to action. Wall visited with a doctor [note: presumably not with the Wizards' medical staff. -key] on Friday and discovered that the ailment that has kept him sidelined the past three games is not knee tendinitis, but rather a bone bruise under his right kneecap.

"I had a feeling it wasn't just tendinitis," said Wall, who was distraught when he heard the diagnosis and believes the injury is the result of compensating on earlier foot and knee injuries on the left side of his body. "I was like, 'If it's tendinitis, I would've played through it.' Tendinitis is very painful, but I played through it summer league, I play through it now. I couldn't do no squats or I couldn't really run or I couldn't cut, so I knew it had to be something more than that."

BTW, I hope this sets the story straight for the folks who were quick to question Wall's toughness.

Wall said he failed in his attempts to run on Saturday. He added that he is looking into soon working with a personal trainer to help him overcome his ailments [another smart move. -key]. The pain in his knee might not allow him to play this week. "Not right now. Not the way it's feeling," Wall said. "It's not really a timetable. "It might be day by day and it might end up being a week or two. I really don't know right now.

"A week or two" sounds dangerously close to "2-3 weeks." But I'm definitely glad that he's getting a second opinion.

[Wizardspride]

FWIW, Lavar Arrington was initially diagnosed with a "bone bruise" when he initially injured his knee....and we see how that turned out.

[willbcocks]

Man, the bulls game on the 22nd is the first game I'll watch live in two years (and I may not see another for two years) and in the time since I bought the tickets: 1) Gil was traded 2) Wall looks unlikely to play and 3) Noah broke his hand.

At least I'll get to see the thrilling Hinrich/Rose rematch...
...
...
...

[Hoopalotta]

He probably picked this up in the second Sixers game when he got whacked by Noccioni at 5:07 in the fourth quarter. I have that game recorded and have watched it a few times and it was legitimately awful (I just turned it on again ).

It wasn't even that it was a nasty foul or anything by Andres and i wouldn't blame him at all, but the way Wall fell was really poor as far as him making adjustments and choosing where to absorb the brunt of the damage. He just went down right on his knees without turning to the side or anything. IIRC, he actually did something like that twice in that same game, though I can't pinpoint the other instance right now.



But he's gotta learn how to fall as much as anything.

[nate33]

On the bright side, at least we finally have a diagnosis. A bone bruise sounds like a frustrating injury because there isn't much you can do about it; but at least it's the type of injury that's not chronic. It will heal eventually. It's better then developing chronic knee tendonitis at the age of 20.

It's also good to hear that Wall has only missed 5 or 6 games due to injury in his entire life. I was worried that we drafted an injury prone guy, but it looks more like a fluke injury than anything else.

[Wizards2Lottery]

On the bright side, at least we finally have a diagnosis. A bone bruise sounds like a frustrating injury because there isn't much you can do about it; but at least it's the type of injury that's not chronic. It will heal eventually. It's better then developing chronic knee tendonitis at the age of 20.

It's also good to hear that Wall has only missed 5 or 6 games due to injury in his entire life. I was worried that we drafted an injury prone guy, but it looks more like a fluke injury than anything else.

At this point, do we even trust it's a bone bruise? The alarming rate of misdiagnoses really makes me uncomfortable in regards to the doctors who take care of our athletes.

[manifested]

At this point, do we even trust it's a bone bruise? The alarming rate of misdiagnoses really makes me uncomfortable in regards to the doctors who take care of our athletes.

+1

[20MexicanosIn1Van]

Looks like I was right about the ZigTechs. I also can't believe the Wizards f*cked up another diagnosis. Wait, actually I can. This team gets harder and harder to cheer for.

[tontoz]

So Wall is clearly taking matters into his own hands.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03519.html

...Wall and the Wizards are concerned about when he will return to action. Wall visited with a doctor [note: presumably not with the Wizards' medical staff. -key]

Good point. It only makes sense to go to another doctor if you don't believe the diagnosis was right.

Once i went to the emergency room with severe stomach pain and the doctor there thought i had a virus. Turns out it was a ruptured appendix.

[nate33]

Do we know for sure that Wall took it upon himself to visit another doctor, or did the Wizards have him go check with a doctor? Let's make sure we nail down all the facts before we start making more accusations of medical malpractice.

[go'stags]

Regardless, Nate, this much we do know: He was originally diagnosed with tendonitits, and told by the head coach and presumably training staff that he could/had to play through it, then it was later found out, possibly by an outside doctor, that it was actually a bone bruise, something you positivley should NOT play through. No amount of posts telling us "we dont know what were talking about" can hide the ugly truth in this instance.

The good part, as you said earlier, is that this should not be a chronic issue, like tendonitis. It may also teach Wall an early lesson that he should not blindly trust our medical staff.

The bad part is how sad and pathetic that last sentence sounds.

[BadWolf]

just a note
a second opinion is not always the right opinion...

[Wizards2Lottery]

just a note
a second opinion is not always the right opinion...

Usually it is better than an incorrect first opinion, which seems like the case with almost every Wizards injury. Don't remember how many times they used to botch Caron's injuries a few years ago. This is just becoming a joke now.

[sfam]

Do we know for sure that Wall took it upon himself to visit another doctor, or did the Wizards have him go check with a doctor? Let's make sure we nail down all the facts before we start making more accusations of medical malpractice.

As if we really need more facts to make such accusations? At this point we have a pattern stretching like 20 years or so. I think the time to give the Wizards' medical staff the benefit of doubt disappeared many many years ago.

[SumTingWong]

Another player gets hurt folowed by another misdiagnosis coupled with a "get out there and play kid" from the coaches and trainers. Fool me once shame on you, fool me a score of times and somebody needs to get canned.

When is this nightmare going to end? This is just sickening and depressing.

I really, really, hope Ted is reading this thread on a daily basis, as has been quietly rumored.

If we are ever to emerge from laughing stock status we desperately need to overhaul our medical staff.

[LyricalRico]

The crawl at the bottom of the screen on NBATV says that Wall has a broken foot. WTF? Are they mixing him up with Jennings?

[Hoopalotta]

The crawl at the bottom of the screen on NBATV says that Wall has a broken foot. WTF? Are they mixing him up with Jennings?

Oh man, it hadn't occurred to me when I saw that in the game thread, but you're right, they're mixing him up with Jennings!