Guregian: Tom Brady suffers setback; Infection leads to two more procedures

[lostjumper]

This is usually the hospital's fault and it is inexcusable.

There has been an enormous emphasis on preventing infections after surgery and overwhelmingly the culprit has been failure to follow simple, but effective, safety procedures on the part of hospital personnel.

I work at a Hospital. We have an extremely low MRSA rate because they drill into everyone here how easily rampant infections can become. You are right, usually this is the hospitals fault. They didn't sterilize equipment correctly, or a nurse failed to wash his/her hands before changing a dressing...etc. Many times it comes down to laziness.

I know no one wants to hit the panic button, but this is actually a very serious issue. We over use anti-biotics here in the US, to the point that the infections are now highly resistant to drugs, and now almost immune. If they've gone bak into his knee twice, mostly likely this means he has an infection highly resistant to drugs and they are trying to clean it out. This does not have a good success rate.

On a side note, if I were the pats, I would be absolutely livid with the Hospital that Brady had the procedure done at. I don't think you can just blame the doctors though. They might not be the culprits in this situation.

 

[ursa99]

The Dr. and his staff are responsible for the dirty environment etc. that caused the infection. If the ESPN article is true then Brady also may have created issues with the club by going his own way and having the surgery on the West Coast.

The key in the article is that he is on IV antibiotics for 6 weeks. Normally that would be only about 3 weeks or less. Must be a stubborn infection and if it's MRSA it could be a real ***** to get rid of. It is very resistant to antibiotics.

"MRSA infection is caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria — often called "staph." MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. It's a strain of staph that's resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it. MRSA can be fatal."

MRSA infection - MayoClinic.com

Lets hope it's not MRSA.

 

[fgssand]

Re: Guregian: Brady has two more sugeries; patellar tendon graft could fail

This is sc ary hopefully it is nothing. My concern with this is so much what will happen if the infection doesn't go away because I am not a DR and I don't know how common some of the things going on are as far as precationary measures. What has me concerned is that it is now 7 weeks after the injury and he seems to be no further along in his recovery. for something that takes a good year to recover from a 7 weeks could be a significant set back as far as week one next year. Hopefully not as there is still alot of time but the more he fights the infection the more the time table gets skewed.


Anyone know if my fears may be pointless? It just occurred to me that the surgically repaired parts could be healing and getting stronger coinciding with fighting the infection and thus the infection may not effect the timetable.


Anyhow this has to freak you out as a Pats fan. I mean if Tommy isnt back next year than we have to go thru this all over again and potentially without California Kid Matt Cassel.

Pessimist says:

He's done and never comes back or:

He is out for 2009 and needs the 2nd reconstruction or:

He is out for 1/2 of 2009 AND

Wedge driven between Brady family and Patriots over the choice.

Optimist says:

relax - only an infection that will be controlled and he is back in Foxboro by 11/15.


Reality says:

We don't know, they prolly don't even know yet - hope for the best and wait it out.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I know no one wants to hit the panic button, but this is actually a very serious issue. We over use anti-biotics here in the US, to the point that the infections are now highly resistant to drugs, and now almost immune. If they've gone bak into his knee twice, mostly likely this means he has an infection highly resistant to drugs and they are trying to clean it out. This does not have a good success rate.

That's the thing, though: we don't have enough information. All we're doing is speculating based on the few shreds of information, which may or may not be correct.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

The Dr. and his staff are responsible for the dirty environment etc. that caused the infection. If the ESPN article is true then Brady also may have created issues with the club by going his own way and having the surgery on the West Coast.

ESPN wants that to be true. Whether or not it is remains to be seen.

 

[Garbanza]

If still wonder why he would have this done in LA when Boston has some of the best hospitals and doctors in the world. Sucks to be Tom right now.

 

[Bigdogx]

That's the thing, though: we don't have enough information. All we're doing is speculating based on the few shreds of information, which may or may not be correct.

Well it's already starting to get leaked out that the patriots are not happy at all with his continued choice of this surgeon. Really i don't see how it's his choice, the team is the one who has millions of dollars invested into this guy and it should overall be their choice of who does this procedure.

 

[patsgo]

If still wonder why he would have this done in LA when Boston has some of the best hospitals and doctors in the world. Sucks to be Tom right now.

yes agreed bad judgement to go to the west coast, have surgery by a no name doctor when the best hospitals, staffs, and doctors are within walking distance from his home, i guess he can throw a good spiral but the common sense is lacking a tad

 

[ursa99]

ESPN wants that to be true. Whether or not it is remains to be seen.

I agree and that is why I put MAY have created issues. Hopefully all is well on the home front but if I'm BB or RK, I'm at the least annoyed and at the most livid. I do agree that ESPN likes to create stories and run with them till they are either true or run out of gas...

 

[bostonia3333]

Perhaps John Wallach on WEEI sportsflash is nuts, but he just said Brady had reconstructive ACL surgery on Oct. 6. Since then he has had 3 ADDITIONAL surgeries because of persistent infection to the patellar tendon. If the infection persists, the ACL surgery might have to be performed again, delaying the 2007 MVP's return even further

Anyone hear this? Does that mean Brady had 4 operations already?

 

[Rob0729]

Well it's already starting to get leaked out that the patriots are not happy at all with his continued choice of this surgeon. Really i don't see how it's his choice, the team is the one who has millions of dollars invested into this guy and it should overall be their choice of who does this procedure.

No company can force their employee to seek medical attention they do not want. That includes forcing them to use a doctor of their choosing. Only insurance companies have that power.

 

[ursa99]

No company can force their employee to seek medical attention they do not want. That includes forcing them to use a doctor of their choosing. Only insurance companies have that power.

Actually they can. Remember the Curt Schilling saga. Left to his own devices he would have had surgery last January but the club had the final say due to the wording in his contract. Not sure that is the case in the NFL but maybe they should have some say since they have mega $'s invested in these guys...

 

[Rob0729]

yes agreed bad judgement to go to the west coast, have surgery by a no name doctor when the best hospitals, staffs, and doctors are within walking distance from his home, i guess he can throw a good spiral but the common sense is lacking a tad

How was it bad judgement and how is this guy a no name doctor? In fact his doctor, Neal S. ElAttrache, is one of the country's leading sports medicine surgeons.

From the Boston Globe:

Brady had chosen Neal S. ElAttrache, a well-known orthopedist specializing in sports medicine, shoulders, elbows, and knees, to perform the surgery.

A month after injury, Brady has knee surgery - The Boston Globe

I would have rather seen him be here and have more supervision by the team, but Dr. ElAttrache is no hack surgeon and he probably couldn't have gotten a much better guy than him here.

 

[BadMoFo]

We'll know in passing camp. I'm sure lots of these surgeries face these types of situations, it's just that Tom Brady seems to be the most important guy that's ever had an ACL tear and this thing is going to be reported on over and over again. Sure hope he plays in the preseason though, would hate to have him miss all the preseason games only to have him play in Game 1 and realize he's not ready to go 100 percent.

 

[Rob0729]

Actually they can. Remember the Curt Schilling saga. Left to his own devices he would have had surgery last January but the club had the final say due to the wording in his contract. Not sure that is the case in the NFL but maybe they should have some say since they have mega $'s invested in these guys...

I should have worded it differently. No company can force a person to have a procedure. They can obviously penalize them if they do. But no company can make someone go under the knife or force them to only do a procedure at a certain location.

 

[Bigdogx]

No company can force their employee to seek medical attention they do not want. That includes forcing them to use a doctor of their choosing. Only insurance companies have that power.

Very true .

Though this is not time to hit a panic button this is extremely bad news imo. There have been cases of infections like this causing delays of over a years time regarding rehab. We need to hope for the best but also prepare for this guy never being the same qb ever again or possible not being ready for next year.

 

[patsgo]

How was it bad judgement and how is this guy a no name doctor? In fact his doctor, Neal S. ElAttrache, is one of the country's leading sports medicine surgeons.

From the Boston Globe:



A month after injury, Brady has knee surgery - The Boston Globe

I would have rather seen him be here and have more supervision by the team, but Dr. ElAttrache is no hack surgeon and he probably couldn't have gotten a much better guy than him here.

william andrews would of been the safe choice, has anybody ever heard of this guy other than reading him in the globe???it looks like the patriots thought it was bad judgement to

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

Cassel needs to be brought along long term, as Jaws and Young said. Brady may be back and he may not be. We don't know. There are conflicting reports out there.

Cassel may be with us for a while. If he could just get the ball out quicker I would be happy, he is a good qb.

Brady is awesome, the best. I want him back. Brady is or will be in good hands. One of the reasons we all like Brady is that he is so clutch and such a nice kid.

However as of now Cassel is our QB. Give the kid and this team a chance. There are 52 other guys that want to win.

I don't mean to come off as an insensitive a-hole, but I am a New England fan. I would like to see my club do well.

I will be saying a little prayer for Tom however. Along with Mario and Gretzky, he is about the classiest professional athlete I have watched.

 

[D-Money]

Damn it.I hope this is just a little setback and everything will be fine.I dont want TB to miss almost 2 seasons.

 

[ursa99]

Damn it.I hope this is just a little setback and everything will be fine.I dont want TB to miss almost 2 seasons.

We won't know till he is off the antibiotics and the infection is gone. These infections can be stubborn things. The best thing would have been to avoid one all together.

This surgeon may be a world class surgeon and his mechanical repair of the knee may be top notch but what good is it if he is in a dirty operating room or has dirty hands or uses dirty equipment or fails to properly clean the skin before doing the incision. This is a set back no doubt and TB's recovery is already delayed by the 6 weeks he has to spend marking time on antibiotics. Had all gone well he should be back in the East doing rehab, not waiting for an infection to be quelled. In the long term it may not make a difference but the sooner he starts rehab the faster he gets back on the field...