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Magus Ossis

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Everything posted by Magus Ossis

  1. So you can’t block me if I refuse to look your way? Brilliant!
  2. I could devise a model that would have a high retroactive predictive power against the spread, given some time and motivation. I think I may focus my talents first on predicting the 2014 bowl season.
  3. Injury medical retirement. Mystery condition was affecting his play and could kill him on any given snap. Tragedy that such talent will never be seen on Sundays.
  4. Chance of return very subjective. There is a school of thought that one should talk guys out of returning to football (as opposed for example to basketball) because they are likely to do again whatever led to the injury in the first place. From a functional standpoint, though, his prognosis would be good.
  5. He would need to show really good bony union of his fusion on Xray. That could take 9-12 months. If he needs surgery and this drags on much longer before doing it, the chance of being back for next year’s spring ball goes down.
  6. Short answer yes. Slightly longer answer: I think as a pro he would have more awareness of what to tell his training staff, they would get him scanned/diagnosed and in treatment sooner, and surgery would be done as soon as a reasonable trial of nonop care failed. Assuming this is a disc causing radiculopathy. That is a lot of assumption and guesswork.
  7. I hate that for Jackson. T&P.
  8. Stenosis means an abnormal narrowing of some opening, canal, or vessel. In this case, we are talking about some stenosis affecting either the cervical spinal cord (central) or nerve roots coming off of it. Congenital stenosis is typically central. It is usually asymptomatic and does not require restriction from any sports. It is not associated with a measurable increase in risk for catastrophic injury. Central stenosis is only a concern if there is some other superimposed risk factor suggesting permanent cord damage may occur: multiple episodes of transient quadriparesis, for example. The number of cases is still very small, but the downside is so terrible that players may be restricted for life by some doctors. Discs can bulge, tear, and squirt their inner gel-like contents in a number of shapes and sizes. This can be superimposed on underlying bony stenosis or may be the only factor. Discs can cause cord (central) and/or nerve root compression. Discs tend to heal over time, and extruded material which compresses nerves often resorbs well enough to resolve all symptoms and risks. Acquired degenerative spondylotic stenosis is quite rare in teenagers. If his problem were isolated low-risk congenital stenosis, none of this drama would be going on. If his problem is high-risk congenital stenosis (e.g., with multiple quadriparetic events), the guy holding him out is unlikely to change his mind later (though he might get a second opinion from a less risk-averse physician). If his problem is largely related to a disc injury, it may get better with time, allowing return to play. If it does not, he may have a good result with disc material removal and fusion of the bones on either side of it to each other, again potentially allowing return to play. The information dribbling out leaves something to be desired, but it currently sounds like some disc is involved. The timeline for giving non-operative care a chance will apparently run long enough that any surgery is likely to keep him off the field for 2019. Unless an official release offers more specificity, we will be left to do a lot of guessing. Every time "disc" gets mentioned, though, it is a positive sign, because that is a problem which can often be fixed and careers resumed.
  9. This deal is basically shining a turd. Were it not for the Longhorn network, our current TV deal would leave Texas far behind Minnesota in media revenue. As cord-cutting and streaming reshape the cable money model, ESPN will be less willing and able to pay the kind of money needed for us to subsidize our conference-mates. There will likely someday be some form of premium extraction on Disney's new streaming platform-- it wouldn't surprise me to see it weaponized against cable companies on ESPN's behalf. Maximizing (1) the net marketability of our games, (2) the realization of potential revenue from said marketability, and (3) the share of the revenue going to UT should be a strategic priority. Yes. A confederation of blue-blood independents or semi-independents would be a tremendous foundation on which to build a stock of marketable games. Playing nationally recognized teams like ND, USC, and to a lesser degree Army and BYU, regularly would not be hard to supplement with meaningful regional and P5 opponents. The companies you mention are both adept and improving at monetizing eyeballs. Sadly, I agree this is unlikely to happen. Our leadership needs to look at all options, though, or we will slip down in comparative revenue as the B12 ladder atop which we are perched slowly sinks into mud. We are in better shape than the Pac, but not by enough or forever.
  10. Rehab is unlikely to reduce his risk of a big problem, but it might help any symptoms from small problems. When there is relative stenosis (bony canal for a nerve is larger than the nerve but smaller than normal), inflammation of the surrounding tissue can more easily result in irritation of the nerve. Rehab can help with inflammation. Also, when disc injury is part of the narrowing equation, some or all of the offending disc material can resorb over time. Despite the overwhelmingly greater participation in football than riding jet skis, the latter results in ten times more blunt-trauma catastrophic head/neck injury. It seems unlikely our medical team is going to clear DGF, but I would not necessarily fault him, his parents, or the giver of a second opinion for having a different risk-tolerance threshold and putting him on the field. edit: typo corrected
  11. It’s true. Unlike the more restrained and less prolific posters here, I offer my thoughts even without invitation.
  12. There are a few risk factors that have been identified as putting some athletes who have stenosis at unacceptable risk for permanent paralysis. None has been released as present in DGF’s case (that I’ve read), but there is surely a reason to decide in April to hold him out in the fall. Other than certain findings on MRI (cord deformed) and Xray (spine curvature abnormal), the main risks would be stingers that get both arms at once, more than one transient episode of quadriparesis, and a history of spear tackling. If his case sits the fence on one of those criteria, the doc may have hedged and said we can see next year. I wouldn’t hold my breath.
  13. I was surprised when it seemed to come out this spring that no MRI had been done before he was initially held out. Stenosis is not necessarily congenital, and I have seen no official word either way in DGF’s case, but I imagine that his likely is. I have heard no definitive word about 1) bilateral rather than the usual one-sided “stinger” symptoms, 2) episodes of quadriparesis, 3) cord deformation on MRI, 4) loss of the expected curvature of his cervical spine, or 5) a history of spear tackling by DGF. Any of the first three could mean he is done, and 4+5 together as well. If he’s out a year, it’s a good bet this is forever.
  14. Yeah, a local sparring partner is good news for us.
  15. Cervical stenosis typically means a narrow central spinal canal but is sometimes used more casually to include cervical foraminal stenosis-- narrowing of the windows through which nerve roots exit. Neither one is necessarily a contraindication for playing football. If a player has deformation of the cord itself with "signal change" inside it seen on MRI or has more than one episode of transient quadriparesis, though, he is probably done. I haven't read enough news about DGF to know whether what he has is more central or foraminal/ radiculopathic, but I think word would have gotten out had he experienced quadriparesis, and people wouldn't be sitting the fence if his MRI were that bad. The above picture shows congenital (central) stenosis which might have been an incidental finding picked up on an MRI. If it is mild, it might be no big deal. If it is severe, the surgery might be laminectomy (remove the back corner walls of the canal) and fusion. It can be made temporarily worse by disc protruding into the canal, in which case the disc is likely removed, typically with fusion as well. This picture shows a "side" (sagittal) and "bottom" (axial) view of stenosis affecting the foramen and hence the nerve root. In a young athlete, it would not be arthritis (spondylosis when in the spine) but rather disc, treated as noted above if it doesn't improve enough without surgery. Patellar tendinitis is not usually a surgical problem. Most guys who need their patellar tendon debrided (bits of unhealthy tendon trimmed out) and repaired return to play, but a good 10% never really do. Out for spring, reasonable chance to be ready for full action in fall camp.
  16. The thinking tends to change a little (meaning we don't have a good scientific understanding yet), but the current standard is that return to play is safe a week after complete resolution of signs and symptoms of injury.
  17. If it made it into the released information, it was a concussion. A concussion is a closed head injury ("bonk") serious enough to have symptoms but not serious enough to cause hemorrhage. If he saw stars, had headaches, or had any symptom aside from soreness at the part of his scalp where contact occurred, it was a concussion.
  18. There is no such thing as a normal spine MRI in someone in his 40s. And spine surgery, like all surgery, has inherent risks including failure. With that said, good surgeons who look at an MRI are looking for more than bulging of discs. Patients who have radiculopathic symptoms (problems that without an MRI are clearly caused by a problem with a specific nerve root where it comes off of the spinal cord) AND who have something (disc, overgrown facet joint, etc) clearly compressing the same nerve root on MRI tend to do very well with decompression by a skilled surgeon. They typically wake up better as though a switch has been thrown. Many people seek and have back and/or neck surgery for a lot of situations which fail to meet one or more of the criteria I listed, however. There is enough desperation among patients and money in operating on them that a lot of potentially avoidable bad results occur, not even necessarily through any conscious malfeasance.
  19. I don't remember hearing about it before he signed. If he needs surgery, it could be anything from taking out a small bit of disc, a one-level ACDF (fusing 2 of the 7 neck bones together), to a major intervention. Even a one-level fusion doesn't necessarily mean no football. My guess is that if he has not seen a spine surgeon yet (and often the referral isn't made until nonsurgical care has obviously failed), it may be that literally no one knows his chances for whether and when he may be definitively over this. Disclaimer: I have not operated on a spine in years and do not keep up with much of the latest and greatest.
  20. DGF's neck and stinger problems may linger, but with something this protracted, I like the fact that he has a positive MRI. Heaven forbid, but if he does not get better with time (bulging and extruded discs can resorb naturally), there is a clear surgical target. The frustrating ones to treat are the ones that have poorly focused physical findings or deficits that do not correspond to imaging.
  21. I have to admit, I’m starting to wonder why we’re apparently not working harder to lock down the Bros. Brock. If we miss on them, it will be one of the, if not The, worst recruiting failures in Texas history.
  22. Some people who would do much better with amputation refuse the procedure. The only time I ever really tried to talk someone into surgery he didn’t want was an above-knee amputation for gas gangrene that would otherwise likely have killed him within the day. On the flip side, there are actually people who hurt so badly that they think they want amputation of a perfectly viable limb.
  23. Last resort if infection couldn’t be cleared, or if multiple surgeries to clean out infection necessitated taking out so much as to make the foot not worth keeping. Uncommon this far out but not unimaginable.
  24. You are right. Being in that frame 3 months out is not an encouraging sign. There is still hope to heal and keep the leg, but his prospects for seeing another NFL snap are bad. edit: that tweet looks like it may be from two months ago, and that would not be a discouraging time still to be in an ex fix.
  25. FWIW I don't have a very good guess at what is up with the episodic "kidney problems." The three big categories of common problems that come to mind are infection (pretty rare to have a young man suddenly develop recurring problems with this), stones (I wouldn't expect him held out, but maybe he has some giant staghorn calculus that someone thinks could cause mechanical injury), and functional failure/ nephritis/ nephrosis (which one would expect to have launched a big workup the first time around). Disclaimer: this is way out of my specialty and routine experience.
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