Ryan Westmoreland to have brain surgery

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Man, that sucks ass.

[Spudboy]

He's still walking with a cane. He lacks fine motor control.

 

It's nice to hear that he's having some fun hitting off a tee. His Father has said that his recovery will take two years. Baseball?

[CoachC.]

Pretty sure baseball is the last of his concerns right now. I just hope he has a safe recovery and is able to live a normal life like everyone else

[example1]

Really interesting exchange between Ryan's father and posters at Soxprospects.com. Sounds like Ryan is doing very well in a human sense, which is what matters most.

[BSN07]

Really interesting exchange between Ryan's father and posters at Soxprospects.com. Sounds like Ryan is doing very well in a human sense' date=' which is what matters most.[/quote']

 

Doing anything baseball related is just cherries on top of the Sunday. Glad to hear the kid is hanging in there.

[Yaz Sideburn]

i wouldn't set any limits on him just yet. he's still only 20 and recieving assessments of remarkable from his doctors. if it takes him two years to get back, he'd still be very talented for his age

[Yaz Sideburn]

“The risks are pretty small, meaning that the chances are, he’ll go through this and recover just fine,” said Curtis Doberstein, the hospital’s interim chairman of neurosurgery.

 

“The overwhelming odds are, without any complications, he should recover fine, and should be able to resume his activities as a professional athlete. If everything goes well, this should not preclude him returning to a professional baseball career.”

 

http://www.projo.com/redsox/content/red_sox_ryan_westmoreland_03-15-10_5OHPEAD_v3.30148c0.html

 

unless there are any veteran brain surgeons on here, this is the most accuate prognosis we'll get

[CoachC.]

*cue jacko saying he wont make it back and the chairman of neurosurgery is wrong*

[BoSox21]

Nah, Jacko will come in and say his ceiling is now as a 4th outfielder in the majors.

[Palodios]

Give Jacko credit though, he may be a hardass on Sox players, but when its something like this, he's not going to be a dick about it.

 

Its still incredibly early to believe that Westmoreland is going to play professional baseball, but its not too early to hope he'll end up being able to live a normal life.

[jacksonianmarch]

Hopefully he does make it back. I wish nothing but the best for him.

 

That being said, it is physician double-talk. If all goes well, he "should" etc. For the most part, best case scenario is that he returns. I hope he does. If he does, it will be one of the best stories of all time. Not just because of the surgery, but because he literally had all the tools and then had to relearn how to throw and to move. I will tell you this much, I do find it incredibly unlikely that he keeps the same hand eye coordination, which is absolutely key in baseball. The area that they operated on controlled coordination of movements. And as we know, in baseball, you need to be lightning quick. That is the biggest thing that I think he will lose. From the sounds of it, his strength is coming back very well. But will he be able to regain his impeccable coordination to hit a 95mph fastball? I do not think it is likely, but truly hope he does. It would be movie-worthy

[Yaz Sideburn]

Hopefully he does make it back. I wish nothing but the best for him.

 

That being said, it is physician double-talk. If all goes well, he "should" etc. For the most part, best case scenario is that he returns. I hope he does. If he does, it will be one of the best stories of all time. Not just because of the surgery, but because he literally had all the tools and then had to relearn how to throw and to move. I will tell you this much, I do find it incredibly unlikely that he keeps the same hand eye coordination, which is absolutely key in baseball. The area that they operated on controlled coordination of movements. And as we know, in baseball, you need to be lightning quick. That is the biggest thing that I think he will lose. From the sounds of it, his strength is coming back very well. But will he be able to regain his impeccable coordination to hit a 95mph fastball? I do not think it is likely, but truly hope he does. It would be movie-worthy

 

and how long have you been performing brain surgery for again?

[jacksonianmarch]

I am not a brain surgeon, but I am an expert in anatomy

[Yaz Sideburn]

and how much experience do you have with brain procedures?

[yeszir]

Ok I'm sick of looking at it so I'm just going to go through and delete all the ********.

[Keeper]

I will tell you this much' date=' I do find it incredibly unlikely that he keeps the same hand eye coordination, which is absolutely key in baseball. The area that they operated on controlled coordination of movements.[/quote']

 

Is Westmoreland's recovery process at all comparable to someone like J.R. Richard?

[jacksonianmarch]

Well, we do have better techniques than they had back then, but the fact that Richard had slowed coordination shows that sometimes it isnt all about regaining all your strength. Richard also had trouble with depth perception, which is controlled in multiple areas of the brain, but one of them (the median longitudinal fasciculus) which yokes the eyes together is located in the mid brain, right above the brain stem. So it isnt out of the question.

 

This is why I think the neurosurgeon's comments are about not dashing a kid's hope than actually thinking he will be back on the field in a Red Sox jersey. We aren't asking the kid to go back into an office and keep up with Jim in accounting. We are asking the kid to do something at a level that 1 in a million reach. And right now, a few months out, he is still walking with a cane and relearning how to do basic tasks that any functional human being can do.

[Yaz Sideburn]

the only athlete i can find who underwent a similar procedure is alberto cantador who then went on to twin the Tour de France twice afterwards

[jacksonianmarch]

It is all about location when it comes to the brain. If you resect a tumor located in an area that is less vital, then you can have a pretty solid recovery. Westmoreland had his in the most vital structure in the brain, the brainstem. I cannot find where Cantador's lesion was.

[example1]

There is video on SP of Ryan hitting off a teee and he looks great. I usually hate citing other sites that I (we) visit, but in this case I would say they definitely have the inside story, with his dad posting there and all.

 

He doesn't look like his balance etc., are completely there yet, but I can say for damn sure that his coordination and swing speed are still greater than anything I could do and I'm willing to bet that if anyone could overcome this it would be him. He's on the cusp of a dream and was blessed with those 1 in a million tools, so he's got as good a shot as anyone could hope for.

[Yaz Sideburn]

i also can't find where cantador's brain surgery was performed, i did however find a study on patients who have had surgery to remove brain stem cavernomas. it's not a very large sample size, but 12 patients were studied. 10 of them had a neurological deficit after the surgery and those defecits were temporary in 9 of the 10 cases. the study also says that 5 of the 12 peole studied actually had improved brain function after the surgery compared to their brain function prior to the surgery

 

http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/72/3/351.abstract

[jacksonianmarch]

There is video on SP of Ryan hitting off a teee and he looks great. I usually hate citing other sites that I (we) visit, but in this case I would say they definitely have the inside story, with his dad posting there and all.

 

He doesn't look like his balance etc., are completely there yet, but I can say for damn sure that his coordination and swing speed are still greater than anything I could do and I'm willing to bet that if anyone could overcome this it would be him. He's on the cusp of a dream and was blessed with those 1 in a million tools, so he's got as good a shot as anyone could hope for.

 

I hope he can. As a fan, I hope he does. As a doc, I doubt he will

[jacksonianmarch]

i also can't find where cantador's brain surgery was performed, i did however find a study on patients who have had surgery to remove brain stem cavernomas. it's not a very large sample size, but 12 patients were studied. 10 of them had a neurological deficit after the surgery and those defecits were temporary in 9 of the 10 cases. the study also says that 5 of the 12 peole studied actually had improved brain function after the surgery compared to their brain function prior to the surgery

 

http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/72/3/351.abstract

 

Unfortunately, the patients in this study had already had 1 or more hemorrhages, meaning you already have someone who has suffered a debilitating injury prior to the surgery. It isnt generalizable to his case

[jacksonianmarch]

And all they are looking for is an indication for surgery. This is not a study aimed at evaluating the recovery, all they are looking for is an improvement from what is likely a debilitated baseline. All this study is trying to prove is that patients with hemorrhages from a cavernoma in the brainstem should have them removed

[Yaz Sideburn]

Unfortunately' date=' the patients in this study had already had 1 or more hemorrhages, meaning you already have someone who has suffered a debilitating injury prior to the surgery. It isnt generalizable to his case[/quote']

 

westmoreland had bleeding as well

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/news/story?id=4992990

[example1]

I hope he can. As a fan' date=' I hope he does. As a doc, I doubt he will[/quote']

 

Did you read the note from his dad on SP or watched the video? I'm not doubting your knowledge or the odds that you are discussing. I'm just curious how much of the other reading you've done on it.

 

I thought his father was right to point out that there are lots of armchair doctors out there offering prognoses without knowing the slightest bit about what they're talking about, and that it is hurtful for him, as a father, to read that stuff about his son. I realize that isn't you, as you have considerable knowledge in this domain. At the same time, without actually being his doctor I'm sure you would admit that you are speaking of percentages and probabilities rather than any first hand knowledge of the case.

 

I don't read you doubting his father's claims of Ryan running full tilt home to first, taking cracks off the tee, throwing at a distance, etc., I just see you writing that even with those skills it is hard to imagine anyone becoming an elite talent in a sport in which only the blessed and lucky seem to thrive.

 

I'm optimistic for this kid and believe tht he will work as hard as any human can work to be a major league ball player.

[Yaz Sideburn]

I'm optimistic for this kid and believe tht he will work as hard as any human can work to be a major league ball player.

 

i am too. everything that westmoreland's actual doctor has said is extremely encouraging and so are studies on cavernous brain malformations in the same area of the brain. i hope he has a full recovery, not just because of his potential as a baseball player but as a matter of his quality of life

[SoxSport]

the only athlete i can find who underwent a similar procedure is alberto cantador who then went on to twin the Tour de France twice afterwards

 

I'm watching the tour de France. They haven't mentioned that. Cantador will probably win it again.

[jacksonianmarch]

Did you read the note from his dad on SP or watched the video? I'm not doubting your knowledge or the odds that you are discussing. I'm just curious how much of the other reading you've done on it.

 

I thought his father was right to point out that there are lots of armchair doctors out there offering prognoses without knowing the slightest bit about what they're talking about, and that it is hurtful for him, as a father, to read that stuff about his son. I realize that isn't you, as you have considerable knowledge in this domain. At the same time, without actually being his doctor I'm sure you would admit that you are speaking of percentages and probabilities rather than any first hand knowledge of the case.

 

I don't read you doubting his father's claims of Ryan running full tilt home to first, taking cracks off the tee, throwing at a distance, etc., I just see you writing that even with those skills it is hard to imagine anyone becoming an elite talent in a sport in which only the blessed and lucky seem to thrive.

 

I'm optimistic for this kid and believe tht he will work as hard as any human can work to be a major league ball player.

 

You said it better than I. While medicine is my domain, putting those words into writing sometimes is not my best feature.

[BSN07]

Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland is making " 'remarkable' progress" in his comeback from brain surgery, reports Alex Speier of WEEI.com.

 

Good to hear.