Amare Has Bulging Disc, Out 2-4 Weeks, Taking Epidural

[K_ick_God]

Better to get rid of the protruding part of the disk -- doesn't sound like major surgery. Maybe this will eliminate long-term problems too.

Back problems can get better. Q-Brick got surgery and has been much better since. Not sure why everybody hates the idea of surgery. They're so good at it now and it can remove long-term problems.

Q was missing like 30 games every season. He's only fine now because he barely plays and is just a spot up shooter at this point.

Gallo's back is fine now too. If Amar'e's disk is not herniated, then get in there and shave it. Two-week recovery is nothing. There's no way it's major surgery if he can be 100% two weeks later.

[phatmanscoop]

u can't shave a bulging disc, gallo was allowed to shave the BONE which was pressing against his disc, gallo also had sharp pain which should nerves were involved, amare is probably getting a 2nd opinion to try and come back faster but no one will do surgery bc it isnt needed.

[Smokey9782]

Where did all of you get your medical degrees?

We'll find out soon enough. Speculating at this point, is pointless.

[BeagleBoss]

Better to get rid of the protruding part of the disk -- doesn't sound like major surgery. Maybe this will eliminate long-term problems too.

Back problems can get better. Q-Brick got surgery and has been much better since. Not sure why everybody hates the idea of surgery. They're so good at it now and it can remove long-term problems.

Q was missing like 30 games every season. He's only fine now because he barely plays and is just a spot up shooter at this point.

Gallo's back is fine now too. If Amar'e's disk is not herniated, then get in there and shave it. Two-week recovery is nothing. There's no way it's major surgery if he can be 100% two weeks later.

Gallo was 20 at the time. Stat is an old and battered 29. Big difference.

[K_ick_God]

STAT has played a high percentage of his games since the microfracture surgery -- he played a few seasons in a row barely missing a game. You can make an argument that STAT has been pretty durable. Gallo is the one who has been out a lot this season. Age isn't everything. But 29 is not old.

[BeagleBoss]

Stat hasn't been able to play in 2 full seasons since coming here. Can't call him durable. He's unreliable going forward if you want to be honest.

[MSG]

Stat hasn't been able to play in 2 full seasons since coming here. Can't call him durable. He's unreliable going forward if you want to be honest.

Also he went down when it mattered the most (last year's playoffs,end of the season this year)

[Dannyknick]

Let me preface this with that I am a doctor, and I just discussed this with a specialist. That said, I have no access to Amare's medical records, prior images, or recent images. I hope it is a relatively incidental finding. After speaking with the specialist (spine surgeon), depending on the symptoms, he could come back as early as a week, from a "bulging disc", which happens to be a very vague medical term. I hope that this is the case. That is the true absolute best case scenario with limited information.

[johnnywishbone]

Jared Zwerling ‏ @JaredZwerling Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Source in Miami says Amare is likely seeking 2nd opinion from a back surgery specialist who is friendly w/ another big man Alonzo Mourning.

Maybe they told him that rest will have an uncertain and potentially lengthy recovery but this surgery to shave the disk would have him back in a couple weeks. Maybe the Knicks don't want him to have the surgery, just rest it out, and Amar'e is thinking about the procedure in order to get back soon.

I say get in there with the knife. Better to get rid of the protruding disk -- doesn't sound like major surgery. Get it done and preserve the playoffs for Amar'e.

My brother had the laser surgery where they shaved the disk. It was an outpatient procedure and he walked out feeling great.

[cgmw]

Let me preface this with that I am a doctor, and I just discussed this with a specialist. That said, I have no access to Amare's medical records, prior images, or recent images. I hope it is a relatively incidental finding. After speaking with the specialist (spine surgeon), depending on the symptoms, he could come back as early as a week, from a "bulging disc", which happens to be a very vague medical term. I hope that this is the case. That is the true absolute best case scenario with limited information.

Cool, thanks.

[K_ick_God]

Let me preface this with that I am a doctor, and I just discussed this with a specialist. That said, I have no access to Amare's medical records, prior images, or recent images. I hope it is a relatively incidental finding. After speaking with the specialist (spine surgeon), depending on the symptoms, he could come back as early as a week, from a "bulging disc", which happens to be a very vague medical term. I hope that this is the case. That is the true absolute best case scenario with limited information.

Thank you. I think the thing with this kind of injury is that even experts are really not sure how it will react to rest. Pain depends on so many variables and backs ARE mysterious so they really don't know how long he'll be out simply by looking at the MRI.

We kind of went through this with Baron and he ended up being out about what they estimated at the beginning (no he wasn't faking). I think Amar'e's timetable will be very uncertain but they'll keep monitoring him and hoping he can heal on his own.

I'm still kind of in favor of surgery if it's possible that it will remove the problem long term but of course I don't have enough info to say. I just think surgery has the best chance of giving us certainty.

[Huey Freeman]

My brother had the laser surgery where they shaved the disk. It was an outpatient procedure and he walked out feeling great.

Maybe I don't fully understand the actual procedure but Is your brother's name "James Howlett"?

[damedash09]

Alan Hahn ‏ @alanhahn
Didn't mention this to @RealMichaelKay, but another option is signing a vet. Rasheed Wallace anyone? He and Woodson have Pistons connection.

[Smokey9782]

Alan Hahn ‏ @alanhahn
Didn't mention this to @RealMichaelKay, but another option is signing a vet. Rasheed Wallace anyone? He and Woodson have Pistons connection.

When was the last time he played anywhere?

[GONYK]

Alan Hahn ‏ @alanhahn
Didn't mention this to @RealMichaelKay, but another option is signing a vet. Rasheed Wallace anyone? He and Woodson have Pistons connection.

When was the last time he played anywhere?

NBA finals 2 yrs ago

[Smokey9782]

When was the last time he played anywhere?

NBA finals 2 yrs ago

[Johnny Hoops]

^
I'm not sure whether Hicskon, Turiaf, Diaw, Pryzbilla, or any other FA big had any interest in joining the Knicks, but I think it's pretty irresponsible for Grunwald to go into the second half of a condensed schedule with only 4 viable PF/Cs on the roster (I'm counting Novak as a SF).

At this point, it's also worth questioning the judgement to give Jordan the final roster spot since he clearly can't contribute yet and we clearly need the depth because of a thin roster and the lockout.

As it stands, we have a stretch of about 6 crucial games with only Tyson and Jorts capable of effectively guarding opposing bigs.

Bingo -- I started a get Diaw thread the minute Jared went down with his injury and most of the reponses were negative. My angle with Diaw was -- he's a vet with strong playoff experience and he's a guy that can defend "some" bigs and is a facilitator. He would have been insurance.

For a team with supposed strong playoff expectations -- going in with paper-thin C/PF combo of Chandler/Amare/Jefferies is unacceptable. I'm not counting guys like Jorts and Jordan because they are rookies and that don't fly (with the refs) in the playoffs --- particularly defending the post.

[johnnywishbone]

My brother had the laser surgery where they shaved the disk. It was an outpatient procedure and he walked out feeling great.

Maybe I don't fully understand the actual procedure but Is your brother's name "James Howlett"?

No but he'd be stoked on the comparison. My memory is always suspect so I emailed my brother to get the story again. The bad news is he said it took him a few weeks before he could do more than walk briskly or swim. And that he felt like somebody had bunched him in the lower back. The good news is he said he never has back pain anymore.

[knicksosmoove]

Bingo -- I started a get Diaw thread the minute Jared went down with his injury and most of the reponses were negative. My angle with Diaw was -- he's a vet with strong playoff experience and he's a guy that can defend "some" bigs and is a facilitator. He would have been insurance.

For a team with supposed strong playoff expectations -- going in with paper-thin C/PF combo of Chandler/Amare/Jefferies is unacceptable. I'm not counting guys like Jorts and Jordan because they are rookies and that don't fly (with the refs) in the playoffs --- particularly defending the post.

I was out of the country last week, why didn't they get diaw? that would have been a huge steal. to be honest, sometimes when they were on the suns together, I questioned who was the better player, him or amar'e (that was a much thinner diaw, though).

agreed that jorts and jordan probably won't get it done. I like Jorts a lot, but his awareness is bad on offense, and his three point shooting is not where it needs to be yet. in my opinion, the guy is already an elite post defender, but he's not going to get those calls during the playoffs just because he's a rookie.

[keyindabox]

How long until we find out more specific information on his injury?