Injury Report: Letang had a stroke

[Jaded-Fan]

My first thoughts are prayers for him and his family.

My second is the ramifications for his play going forward, now that we have been told that it is treatable and not life threatening.

Any doctors/nurses here who can comment?

No indication of any permanent damage so they must have caught it in testing.

My questions would be how does someone who is basically susceptible to strokes get treated (blood thinners for sure, but what else) and does it effect a persons physical activities? Will Letang be able to compete at the level he is accustomed to while on those drugs?

 

[jmelm]

Scary stuff. Really scary stuff. Goes beyond hockey and just makes you think about life for a minute or two. Hoping for a full recovery however long that may take.

This ^. And this can also put an end to the Letang trade rumours, because this is a serious issue: and the Pens would never trade a guy who is going through something like this (just way too unsupportive and not classy or repsectful , and other teams would be scared off and value would plummet).


People have been too hard on this guy all year, and while this medical issue was not the reason for his play, he's been taking far too much heat lately and it's time to lay off. Let's just let that part go and wish him the best going forward.

 

[BumFortyOne]

If they're saying he's expected to miss at least 6 weeks that also means they think there's a chance of him returning this season?

I guess they're leaving that possibility open but I think the key words here are at least six weeks.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

I ain't no doctor but personally I'd be very surprised if the guy played again this season

Hoping I'm wrong and for the right reasons, not the selfish one of just him playing to help us

 

[vikingGoalie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tedy_Bruschi

he came back and played, and sounds like it was worse for him.

I wonder if Kris's lifetime battles with Migranes are because of this?
Here's hoping for a speedy full recovery, hockey is just a game, get healthy Kris.

 

[PK16]

Flyers fan coming to say that I wish the best for Kris. That is terrible news. I always enjoy watching him play, he is a tremendous skater with a ton of heart. Thoughts and prayers for him and his family.

 

[Rico Fatastic]

That's really awful. Judging from no more than the little bit of information in the press release, it sounds like this may have been a minor stroke, and hopefully he can make a full recovery. But this is very much a career threatening illness regardless of how well he recovers. I can't imagine him being allowed to play again if he does indeed have to be anticoagulated for the rest of his life. Really terrible news, and all the best to Kris.

 

[cheesedanish87]

Scary stuff, but it seems like it sounds much worse then it actually is.

 

[BmxHockey]

Last sentence said he is expected to resume skating after Olympic break.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

That's absolutely crazy. Hopefully Kris makes a full recovery and return to hockey. But more so, hopefully this doesn't affect the rest of his life.

 

[DegenX]

This is an absolute shock ... hope he recovers quickly and fully.

 

[Dying Alive]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tedy_Bruschi

he came back and played, and sounds like it was worse for him.

I wonder if Kris's lifetime battles with Migranes are because of this?
Here's hoping for a speedy full recovery, hockey is just a game, get healthy Kris.

Sounds like Bruschi's might have been more severe than Letang's. Bruschi had partial paralysis while, as many pointed out, Letang was seen laughing it up with the moms in the press box and not looking very sick.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Ok, just got off the telephone with my girlfriend who is a CCU nurse on the coronary unit at her hospital.

From the limited information in the press release, and with the caveat that the info is limited:


She said that as long as there were no residuals (damage from the stroke) they will need to do open heart surgery to repair the hole, but once they do he should be normal. The only other treatment is blood thinners but he could not play with those as they would severely impair his ability to play on a level one would need as a professional. The recovery time for that surgery is 6 weeks for a normal person but for an athlete it could be longer. His doctor would say.

But he appears to be very lucky and if the indications are accurate he could completely eliminate the issue with one surgery.

 

[jmelm]

My first thoughts are prayers for him and his family.

My second is the ramifications for his play going forward, now that we have been told that it is treatable and not life threatening.

Any doctors/nurses here who can comment?

No indication of any permanent damage so they must have caught it in testing.

My questions would be how does someone who is basically susceptible to strokes get treated (blood thinners for sure, but what else) and does it effect a persons physical activities? Will Letang be able to compete at the level he is accustomed to while on those drugs?

Not truly an MD but lots of medical knowledge. I don't think this is an issue of them "catching it" in time. A stroke is a quick and transient event, and if it was a serious one, unless it was treated within the first handful of hours, there could be long-term and sometimes irreparable damage.

And yes: I would be very concerned about being on blood-thinners and playing hockey. This absolutely could increase the risk of injuries and make certain risks more severe.

What I don't understand is: if this is truly caused by a hole in Letang's heart, the long term solution should be to repair that hole. Then, he shouldn't need blood thinners, and blood thinners alone -- in addition to having very poor side effects, particularly if they're synthetic like warfarin -- can have a ton of side effects and interfere with other things.

Perhaps they're looking at a shorter term solution and monitoring of the problem because Letang may want to still play this season, but I wonder (and would hope) if fixing the hole would be something they could do, and something on their radar for after the season.

 

[Shrimper]

Darren Dreger ‏@DarrenDreger 34s
Letang is expected to have further tests after a much deserved vacation. Won't skate before then as balance and focus were part of symptoms.

 

[The Big Dawg*]

Now i feel bad for ripping on the guy so much this year

Really hope he comes back stronger than before! Get well soon, kris!

 

[Jacob]

When people hear "stroke" they think of the thing that took down their dear old pap pap but that's not really what happened in this case.

Letang had dizziness, not paralysis. This is obviously serious but now that it's caught and diagnosed I think the prognosis is very good.

 

[Shockmaster]

Best of luck to Letang. That's scary stuff. Six weeks does sound a little too optimistic though.

 

[Cardboard Orpik]

This is unbelievable. It's very likely he's done for the season, who knows what this means for his overall career. I wish him the best and hope he recovers and has a long life and career.

 

[powerstuck]

Just goes to show that no matter how much in shape you can get, you are still a human.

 

[Vujtek]

Scary stuff.

Get well soon, Kris!

 

[AquaticBirdman]

Dude! The guy just had a STROKE and your only concern is if he is going to return this season???!!??

Don't be obnoxious for nothing. I'm just trying to analyze the article carefully to get a better perspective on how serious a stroke it really is.

 

[mrzeigler]

wow. I'm glad to hear it isn't believed to be life- or career-threatening. That relative good news gives me leeway to wonder if he had the stroke — or perhaps multiple strokes — before opening the door to reveal a naked Brandon Sutter.

But seriously, get well soon, 58.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Not truly an MD but lots of medical knowledge. I don't think this is an issue of them "catching it" in time. A stroke is a quick and transient event, and if it was a serious one, unless it was treated within the first handful of hours, there could be long-term and sometimes irreparable damage.

And yes: I would be very concerned about being on blood-thinners and playing hockey. This absolutely could increase the risk of injuries and make certain risks more severe.

What I don't understand is: if this is truly caused by a hole in Letang's heart, the long term solution should be to repair that hole. Then, he shouldn't need blood thinners, and blood thinners alone -- in addition to having very poor side effects, particularly if they're synthetic like warfarin -- can have a ton of side effects and interfere with other things.

Perhaps they're looking at a shorter term solution and monitoring of the problem because Letang may want to still play this season, but I wonder (and would hope) if fixing the hole would be something they could do, and something on their radar for after the season.

She has been a CCU nurse on the coronary unit for many many years. Well was one, she is now on another unit but most of her career was a CCU coronary nurse.

Letang is her favorite player too.

And she was pretty positive about his complete recovery with one surgery. With the one caveat that there were no what she called 'residuals' meaning damage from the stroke. Around a six week recovery and good as new.

One of her friends who also was a nurse had exactly the same thing, they caught it, open heart surgery, was back on the unit in six weeks completely healed of the problem.

 

[AquaticBirdman]

Ok, just got off the telephone with my girlfriend who is a CCU nurse on the coronary unit at her hospital.

From the limited information in the press release, and with the caveat that the info is limited:


She said that as long as there were no residuals (damage from the stroke) they will need to do open heart surgery to repair the hole, but once they do he should be normal. The only other treatment is blood thinners but he could not play with those as they would severely impair his ability to play on a level one would need as a professional. The recovery time for that surgery is 6 weeks for a normal person but for an athlete it could be longer. His doctor would say.

But he appears to be very lucky and if the indications are accurate he could completely eliminate the issue with one surgery.

Just fix the hole and take the time you need.