Reiss: Gronk working out and signs are good that he will avoid more surgeries

[Archeryaddict12]

He has a larger plate than the one he had when he broke his arm the second time. This plate runs the whole length of his forearm. The first one only covered a part of it.

Ok that makes sense now.

 

[kennyb]

Well if they do remove it then when would they and how long to recover from surgery?

Well I just read 11 weeks so he is prob pup to start the season.

 

[hwc]

LIt is a serious problem and the question now is whether the antibiotic treatment has been sufficient to deal with it.

Actually, that was the question back when the article appeared. And, since no additional surgery was scheduled at that time, the expectation seemed to be that the antibiotic treatment was sufficient to deal with it. Now, a month later, with no reports of surgeries actually being performed, it continues to appear that the antibiotic treatment was/is working.

The article, at the time, made it sound like additional surgeries were imminent. That appeared to be speculative reporting, at best.

My assumption is that the fairly decent health care system in Boston is probably capable of treating an orthopaedic injury, even with infection complications with a prognosis that is better than career-ending. Could it go bad? Sure, but that would not be the baseline assumption.

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BTW, I believe the original source for the doomsday article was Ron Borges, not Mike Reiss.

 

[patsox23]

I didn't read that article and come away with as definitively positive a POV as some here did. Not that it was negative, just felt it read a bit more "so far, so good, but we'll have to see" for me. Anyone else?

 

[BelichickFan]

Well if they do remove it then when would they and how long to recover from surgery?

Well I just read 11 weeks so he is prob pup to start the season.

The season starts in 18 weeks.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

good news..but still a couple of weeks away until we really know

 

[supafly]

Should take it out, because another land like the playoffs and it breaks his arm again. That's why he broke his arm the second time I believe.

So do they ever take the plate out or will they leave it in forever??

All accounts point to the plate definitely staying in his arm for at least this upcoming season.

I'd imagine that they'll explore taking it out when the season is over, if that's what they feel is best, but I don't think there's any chance in the world that he can play this upcoming season without the plate.

We all have the same concern after seeing what happened, but as rob said--it's a bigger plate this time that runs pretty much the entire length of his forearm, as opposed to the initial one which just took up a smaller area.

I'd have to think that even if they decided to remove the existing plate due to infection concerns, there would still be some sort of smaller replacement involved. Of course none of us really know, but it was my observation from the last series of reports that he'd be playing the season with some sort of plate regardless. That said, that may also have been prior to the latest news too, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[supafly]

I didn't read that article and come away with as definitively positive a POV as some here did. Not that it was negative, just felt it read a bit more "so far, so good, but we'll have to see" for me. Anyone else?

Absolutely. I feel the same way you do, and that's exactly the impression that I got too.

All anyone seems to know at this point is that they are still in a waiting process to make sure the infection has cleared sufficiently (or not). That will likely be another 2-3 weeks from what the last reports stated several weeks ago.

In the meantime, it's good to hear that he hasn't had any "setbacks," but I don't really think this news proves anything besides the fact that he hasn't had any new problems....they're still in the same waiting period that they've been in.

Of course, some of us will have a more optimistic viewpoint--while others may be more "realistic" or even pessimistic. Unfortunately at this time there doesn't seem to be a clear cut answer anyway you look at it though.

 

[Brady2Moss]

Actually, that was the question back when the article appeared. And, since no additional surgery was scheduled at that time, the expectation seemed to be that the antibiotic treatment was sufficient to deal with it. Now, a month later, with no reports of surgeries actually being performed, it continues to appear that the antibiotic treatment was/is working.

The article, at the time, made it sound like additional surgeries were imminent. That appeared to be speculative reporting, at best.

My assumption is that the fairly decent health care system in Boston is probably capable of treating an orthopaedic injury, even with infection complications with a prognosis that is better than career-ending. Could it go bad? Sure, but that would not be the baseline assumption.

------------

BTW, I believe the original source for the doomsday article was Ron Borges, not Mike Reiss.

I think you are making light of what could have been and still could be. It is potentially very serious and he still is not in the clear. It has been 6 months since injury and this is the first positive news to be had, it is concerning. It seems like he may have beat the infection. Still him drinking and still acting like a fool during this ordeal did not help as it suppresses immune function.

 

[ausbacker]

It's obvious that there is only one remaining solution to the problem that is Gronk's arm;

 

[ay-yo]

Maybe is he misses the start of the season he'll be healthy for the playoffs

 

[hwc]

I think you are making light of what could have been and still could be.

I'm not making light of what could have been. I'm making light of the breathless doom and gloom of the original unsourced article from Ron Borges.

The story appears to be pretty straightforward. Gronk develops infection. To combat infection, doctors begin aggressive antibiotic treatment and monitor to see that the infection is subsiding.

Not much of a story, really.

Everything else (the false reports of additional surgeries being imminent, etc.) was all just "what if" speculation and immediately disputed by Gronk's agent.

 

[kennyb]

Probably best to take out the plate. Its been 4 months. They could take it out in a month or two and he wouldn't miss much of the season. Plus it'd probably clear the infection out.

 

[supafly]

Probably best to take out the plate. Its been 4 months. They could take it out in a month or two and he wouldn't miss much of the season. Plus it'd probably clear the infection out.

None of us are doctors in that field, so it's all speculation and opinion based.

That said, the original plan was undoubtably made to leave the plate in for at least the 2013 season due to helping/protecting the arm. We definitely know that they made the protective plate bigger and more protective than the original one when he was injured on Nov.18th in the IND game. This procedure took place after the HOU playoff game in the middle of January. I doubt they'd have made the second plate bigger and more protective if they simply planned to perform another surgery and take it out again this spring. There'd be no reason for that, as he wasn't planning on having any sort of contact. To me, the only reason they'd have done that is if they planned on him having it in throughout the whole season, which is also what was reported multiple times.

I'm sure they'd much rather leave it in, and leave Gronk alone--rather than have to schedule and perform a 4th surgery. That will hopefully come during the offseason in the spring of 2014 when the area has had time to heal and recover properly.

 

[supafly]

Not much of a story, really.

Everything else (the false reports of additional surgeries being imminent, etc.) was all just "what if" speculation and immediately disputed by Gronk's agent.

I agree with your trying to put a positive spin on it, but it certainly was a story, and there was definite concern about what appeared to be a decent chance at having a 4th surgery.

As you said his agent disputed the notion of a 4th surgery being imminent, as he should have. At that point it wasn't imminent..but there certainly was (and may still possibly be) a decent amount of concern.

I do agree with your point about the doom and gloom stories. If the infection ends up being cleared long enough, all of those concerns will have been for nothing.

 

[kennyb]

I've heard these plates can cause constant pain/swelling. So it's better that they get it out of there as soon as they can.

 

[PatsDeb]

I'm glad for this (no need for further surgeries), but I for one will always be worried when Gronk takes a hit or hits the ground that he has a "weak wing" and will not have a long NFL career, despite his talents. Hope I am just a worry wart and am wrong...

 

[xlcjw72]

I can't believe this guy is human I saw him take so many hits and then land on his neck and get up and shake it off like nothing happened... and a forearm brings him to earth..smh

 

[supafly]

I've heard these plates can cause constant pain/swelling. So it's better that they get it out of there as soon as they can.

Hope the recent report helps to better explain things for you. As I said, there's no way they'd take the plate out at this point in time. The idea was to leave it in for quite awhile. They are looking to see if they need to replace it, not permanently remove it.