Newk Rollins wrote:I remember when Gilbert had his first knee surgery. The W Post said that DURING HIS SURGERY for the primary injury (I think it was his MCL), the Wizards' quack doctor noticed that GIlbert needed microfracture surgery, so, since they were already operating, they did the microfracture surgery as well.
At the time, I remember thinking this was nuts, as microfracture surgery then was difficult, risky and uncommon. And also, normally before doing something like that you'd want a second opinion. And you'd want to find the best microfracture surgeon possible. And then also I thought they should have done prep for that sort of surgery...
Maybe Gilbert needed microfracture surgery all along, and the Wizards just decided to disclose the information in this odd way. Anyway, I remembered this because it just seemed so strange at the time.
So my advice to Wall- get good opinions, and don't let the Wiz doctors (if they're the same guys) anywhere near you. Based on past history, it is certainly possible that the diagnosis is wrong.
It's also very possible that the information we're getting from the Wizards is wrong. About that last thought- suppose you're Ted. The Caps are most likely shut down for the year. The Mystics- I won't go there. Now the Wizards are losing their best marketing and performing asset for perhaps all the year. The season is going down the tubes. In this situation, Ted might say just what they've said. "He's out for 8 weeks." Keep people buying tickets, etc.
BTW, kudos to EG for not getting a competent backup at the beginning when everyone on this board said the Wizards needed one.
Good lord you have a lousy memory.
Arenas initial injury was a torn meniscus. The initial surgery seemed to be routine. His recovery was not.
When he went back in for new surgery, microfracture surgery was an un-publicized possibility going in. This is because the surgery for a meniscus tear essentially trims away damaged cartilage. Which leaves a hole in the cartilage. When the doctors got into the knee and could actually see what was going on, they found that the hole in his cartilage had gotten bigger so they did the microfracture procedure, which is supposed to help fill that hole (over time).
When Arenas had the microfracture surgery, it had become routine and common. By the time he had it done, a number of athletes had undergone the procedure and returned to action. In Arenas' case, the likelihood of success from a microfracture procedure was possible to be even higher than for other athletes because it was done on the fibula (non-weight-bearing) and not the tibia (where most athletes have it done).
All that said, I agree with your final conclusion: Wall should not trust that the Wiz doctors have anything correct. He should demand second, third and fourth opinions. He should have his agent identify who the best doc is for this kind of thing. He should go visit James Andrews.
"A lot of what we call talent is the desire to practice."
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