Friday, August 19, 2011

Harris's timetable uncertain and other links

Things are not looking good for Montel, per Dan Duggan's blog:
What was found was another lateral tear of the meniscus, the same injury that he suffered last November 20 in the game against Virginia, and there was also some debris that needed to be cleaned out. Dr. Thomas Gill – the orthopedist for the Bruins, Patriots and Red Sox – performed the surgery at Brigham and Women’s/Mass. General Health Care Center in Foxboro.

Harris conceded that redshirting is an option, but it’s not one he’s looking at closely right now. He hopes to be able to play by the third game of the season against Duke on Sept. 17.


Good job by Duggan to first report the news. I am not a knee or medical expert, but it is troubling that it look this long to diagnose. I think this knee will be an ongoing issue. Regardless of what Montel hopes, I am mentally preparing for a season without him. Let's hope Williams has worked on his reading of holes.


Kuechly and the linebackers are going to carry this year's defense.


This guy has a BC offer and he hasn't even started a game in high school yet.


Lesson to all you high schoolers courtesy of Chris Snee: don't get a tattoo until you are really sure you like it.

4 comments:

jrtmurphy said...

This is best case scenario. If it had been a cartilage issue, his outlook would have been worse. Basically retore in his previous area. I expect him back for week 5.

mod34b said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JBQ said...

This comes from someone who tore the meniscus cartilage in high school and had it removed. The new type of surgery (orthoscopy) is a "snip of the cartilage" through a tube with joint cushioning still viable. It says here that there was a retear in the same place. This says that there is something wrong with the surgeon. Why would it be diagnosed this late? Don't forget that Billy Flutie was diagnosed with a severe hamstring tear. When he was on the operating table, they went in and found no tear and closed him back up. I would ask just what is going on? At first glance, it appears that the coaching staff is telling the players to not wimp out and stay away from doctors.

jrtmurphy said...

JBQ
That is ridiculous.
First off, the odds of a retear are small. Have I seen it before, yes? But the problem is once you take out part of the meniscus the MRI of that area will be abnormal. A new MRI won't be able to distinguish new vs old tear that had surgery.

To blame the doctor is just typical of society today. It was 'diagnosed late' because the only way to know for sure is to go back in there.

Like I said, if the only issue was a retear of the meniscus he may be back quicker then we think. Also, if he did have a repair it may have simply not healed and the second surgery was required to remove the tear. Isolated repairable meniscal tears without associated ACL reconstructions only have an 80% healing rate.

As I team surgeon I know it is a hard decision to 'go back' into the knees of these athletes.