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Thread: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

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    Member blumj's Avatar
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    Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

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


    Boston Red Sox minor leaguer Ryan Westmoreland has been diagnosed with a cavernous malformation in his brain, the team announced Saturday.


    The 19-year-old outfielder has taken medical leave from camp and will undergo surgery to remove the malformation Tuesday at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Ariz.
    "Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons


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    We Need Our Myths reds1869's Avatar
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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    Wow. Best wishes to him, he is a tremendous player. Scary stuff that hits really close to home for me.

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    Bullpen or whatever RedEye's Avatar
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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    Wow. That sounds scary. What is a "cavernous malformation" and how is it treated exactly? Best wishes, obviously, to Westmoreland and his family.
    “Every level he goes to, he is going to compete. They will know who he is at every level he goes to.” -- ED on EDLC

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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    Quote Originally Posted by RedEye View Post
    Wow. That sounds scary. What is a "cavernous malformation" and how is it treated exactly? Best wishes, obviously, to Westmoreland and his family.
    From what I've been able to find, it's a group of blood vessels on the brain that looks like a raspberry. Some people have it and never know it. In others, it might lead to strokes or seizures. It depends on where it is in the brain. Mild cases are just watched. More serious cases require surgery. An MRI usually finds it if it doesn't show up first as headaches, blurred vision and numbness. But I am not a doctor.

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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    Quote Originally Posted by RedEye View Post
    Wow. That sounds scary. What is a "cavernous malformation" and how is it treated exactly? Best wishes, obviously, to Westmoreland and his family.
    http://www.mayoclinic.org/cavernous-malformations/

    Cavernous malformations are vascular malformations in the brain or spinal cord. Also known as brain cavernas hemangiomas or cavernomas, cavernous malformations are groups of abnormally tiny and larger, thin-walled blood vessels filled with blood that may slowly seep into surrounding tissue. The leakage of blood from the cavernoma may be more significant and cause what is called a hemorrhage.
    http://www.mayoclinic.org/cavernous-...treatment.html

    The main treatment options for cavernous malformations are observation and surgery.
    If a patient is not experiencing symptoms from the malformation, then an MRI should be performed every one to two years to monitor the condition's status. However, if a patient is experiencing symptoms from a malformation which is surgically accessible, then surgery often will be recommended.
    "Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons

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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    Actually, it looks like the original link's been updated with a more complete explanation.
    "Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons

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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    Yikes -- best of luck for him. I wonder if this is something that would have likely been caught no matter what or if it was only the rigorous physical testing that comes with being a professional athlete that allowed them to find it?
    Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.

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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    Quote Originally Posted by RedsManRick View Post
    Yikes -- best of luck for him. I wonder if this is something that would have likely been caught no matter what or if it was only the rigorous physical testing that comes with being a professional athlete that allowed them to find it?
    According to the ESPN article, he was having headaches and numbness and other neurological symptoms.
    "Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons

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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb...ory?id=5001399

    Boston Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland underwent brain surgery Tuesday and the initial reports are that it "went well," according to a source in the organization.

    A complete prognosis will not be known for a few days, the source said, but the club was hopeful that there will be a satisfactory outcome for the 19-year-old native of Portsmouth, R.I.
    "Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons

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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    That's good to hear!

    So I wonder if the prognosis is good for baseball related things (ie. can resume his career) or is it more of a, 'if the prognosis is good, he can still have a somewhat normal life' kinda thing?

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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    Quote Originally Posted by SirFelixCat View Post
    That's good to hear!

    So I wonder if the prognosis is good for baseball related things (ie. can resume his career) or is it more of a, 'if the prognosis is good, he can still have a somewhat normal life' kinda thing?
    I would trust Gordon Edes to make that clear as he gets more information, he's been doing a pretty thorough job with this story so far, considering the circumstances.
    "Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons

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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    God Best wishes to the Kid and his family. Real talented player and as with life I hope he flourishes after surgery and his talent is not taken from him at such a young age.
    2006 Redzone mock Draftee's- 1(st) Daniel Bard(redsox), 1(st sup)( Jordan Walden (Angels), 2(nd) rd.- Zach Britton(Orioles), 3(rd) Blair Erickson(Cardinals), 3(rd) Tim Norton( Yankees),(cuz its a Tim Hortons thing

    Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory... lasts forever.

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    Member blumj's Avatar
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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/th...t-westmoreland


    The Red Sox received an encouraging report on the condition of Ryan Westmoreland, who underwent surgery Tuesday on a cavernoius malformation in the 19-year-old prospect's brain. The team released a statement on the matter:

    According to Dr. Robert Spetzler, Westmoreland's neurosurgeon and the director of Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Ryan Has been moved out of the Intensive Care Unit and into the hospital's Neuro Rehabilitation Unit, where he will undergo physical and occupational therapy.

    "Ryan is right on track and we expect progressive improvement," said Dr. Spetzler.
    "Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons

  15. #14
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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    No news, but Westmoreland was at Fenway last night. Good to see that he's at least doing well enough to be out.
    "Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons

  16. #15
    Member blumj's Avatar
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    Re: Red Sox Prospect to Have Brain Surgery

    http://www.projo.com/redsox/content/....cae7e935.html

    “All of a sudden, he was throwing, and he just threw a bomb over Charlene, all the way over the fence, into the woods,” Dugan said.

    At moments like that, Ryan Westmoreland believes that his dream of playing in the major leagues really will come true.
    Westmoreland’s motor skills, coordination, speech and vision are far better than they were in the weeks following his March 16 surgery, when doctors removed a raspberry-sized pack of blood vessels known as a cavernous malformation from his brain stem.

    But it could be two full years before doctors know whether Westmoreland will regain 90-percent functionality, 95 percent, 98 percent, or –– his family hopes –– 100 percent. Most do not.

    That goal is what keeps Westmoreland going. His immediate aim is to be ready for the start of Instructional League in September.

    “I don’t necessarily want to play, I just want to go, work out, hang out with those guys,” he said.

    To do it, he must test the limits of what doctors believe possible. Yet through every grueling day of rehab, with its minute setbacks and incremental triumphs, Westmoreland presses forward, certain that his goal is attainable.

    “I’m going to get there again,” he said, leaning over the railing to stare down on the field below.

    “I can’t say when, but the sooner the better, and that’s the ultimate goal, to get back on the field. Step one, I woke up alive. Now we’re moving forward, and the goal?” He pointed down at Fenway’s famous grass. “It’s right down there.”
    "Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons


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