Spike weighing multiple hip surgeries

Submitted by Ivan Karamazov on

Quick interview from Brendan Quinn over on Mlive with Spike on the hip injury that was bothering him all season.  New info to me was that it is not just one hip, but both that could require surgery to reduce pain.  Touches mainly on the tough decision to potentially miss all of spring/summer, or continue to train through the pain and then most likely play your entire senior season in pain.

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/03/spike_albrecht_weighing_option.html

First thread topic, so apologies if formatting or link are screwed up.

xxxxNateDaGreat

March 27th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^

If he asked me (why would would he?) I'd say do the surgery. No clue what the injuries are or to what extent, but I'd have to think that it would be better to get it fixed now than potentially make it worse and possibly unfixable down the road.

FreddieMercuryHayes

March 27th, 2015 at 10:16 AM ^

Get the surgery.  Honestly, he's got a ton of experience, he doesn't need the spring/summer as much as a lot of players.  Get the surgery, get things fixed for now and in the future. 

JOHNNAVARREISMYHERO

March 27th, 2015 at 10:45 AM ^

I think he should do the surgery.  He is a warrior, but do what it takes to get the pain to go away.

Of all the guys scheme/system/playing wise, he is the least we should be worried about.  

 

BlueKoj

March 27th, 2015 at 10:49 AM ^

I find it strange that people are making recommendations on a situation they admittedly know next to nothing about (or saying what they'd do in his shoes). Spike isn't sure and he knows 80-90% of the info, and is still waiting for final discussions with his docs this week. 

BlueKoj

March 27th, 2015 at 11:03 AM ^

Point taken of course, but still. You know nothing, you admit it, don't state what you would do or what he should do. Talk about how much you think he doesn't need spring/summer workouts, and leave the "should dos" in your head (well, not your head, Mabel).

MichiganMAN47

March 27th, 2015 at 11:13 AM ^

I hope he makes the best decision for his long term health- and doesn't make this about just this season. I know hips can have a lot of long term problems, and can be degenerative.

TyTrain32

March 27th, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^

what to do....Really though, bizzare seeing a player of Spike's stature with a hip injury, especially assuming he is done growing. Seems like I only hear about bigs with this problem.

I'd hate to see another Walton situation where he tries to push through and ends up missing out on his senior season. Tough decision but I'd have the surgery I think...

DowntownLJB

March 27th, 2015 at 11:34 AM ^

One of the early articles about this included a comment by or about his dad, who apparently has a similar issue, but has been hesitant to have hip surgery.  I'd think watching his dad deal with pain for years might be a motivating factor to get it taken care of, if the Drs are confident that they can help.  On the other hand, whatever is driving his Dad's reluctance may weigh in to Spike's feelings about surgery on some level too.  I wish him good health and good luck whatever road he chooses to take.

CaliUMfan

March 27th, 2015 at 12:00 PM ^

Is the thought that he could have the surgeries and redshirt next year completely unreasonable? It seems like a year they could afford not to have him and he could come back the following year at 100% no question and if Walton has a break out year and leaves, the team is Spikes to run in 2016.

jmblue

March 27th, 2015 at 12:12 PM ^

This is one of those "Is the cure worse than the disease?" dilemmas.  Surgery on both hips?  YIkes.

The kid must have played through a ton of pain this past season.

bronxblue

March 27th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^

Man that's a tough decision. it makes sense for him to get the surgery, as he'd have a better chance to recover without the weight of training.

bluesalt

March 27th, 2015 at 1:17 PM ^

Get the surgery, give yourself the full rehab time, get an extra year of school out of it, and come back 100% for 100% of your senior year. There's going to be a minutes-crunch in the guard rotation if Levert returns, anyway, so it could be tough to earn those minutes if you're not at the top of your game.

GRboy

March 27th, 2015 at 1:50 PM ^

I've had this surgery on bilateral hips and am a physician.  

I won't get into specifics about his case due to lack of first hand knowledge but the injury is very clear (reading the tea leaves with a knowledgeable lens) and won't get better w/ any rehab.  Long term damage results to hip joint itself and it's not just playing through pain--but also a weakness issue when the joint is inflammed enough.  

Interested parties could probably deduce the injury by researching A-Rod, Ed Reed among others.  

It's a tough road back.  Symptoms are variable but judging by his activity limitation thorughout the season he's not in a non-surgery option group.  What a competitor.

Again, without knowing his specifics, he should probably take a redshirt and get both hips done.  I spearated these surgeries out by a year.  Early surgery limits further long term damage, advice I should have taken but this is a newer diagnosis and an even newer surgical corrective field from a laparscopic approach.

That's all I say about this issue but good luck Spike.  With admiration, Go Blue.

Amutnal

March 27th, 2015 at 2:05 PM ^

Lucky for us, we have one of the brightest up and coming stars in Orthopaedic surgery sports medicine at UM in Asheesh Bedi. Taking an educated guess, he would be the one who would most likely perform his hip arthroscopy.

Sports

March 27th, 2015 at 3:04 PM ^

Not going to give a recommendation either way, but as someone who has the same condition and has been going through a similar debate, I can offer some perspective. This surgery has the longest recovery time of any current orthopedic procedure. It's known to be viciously painful and to have a tedious recovery. In addition, it hasn't been fully perfected yet. Several surgeons advised me to wait as long as possible before getting the surgery, given that it may provide no real benefit. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Each case is unique and depends fully on the degree of degeneration experienced by the hips in question. If degeneration has slowed or ceased at a certain point, some doctors advise just working through the pain and acknowledging that you'll have a hip replacement down the road. The decision here is a lot more than figuring out if he plays next year or this summer, it's more about weighing the costs and benefits of the procedure in general. I really empathize with Spike. My issue cropped up when I was running track and I understand the tear between wanting to tough it out and keep playing and wanting the pain to stop. Hope that he makes the best decision for himself medically in the long term. He still has a redshirt to burn, so he has some leeway here if he does decide to go under the knife.

CoachBP6

March 28th, 2015 at 4:22 AM ^

Spike reminds me of Steve Nash at times. What a beast! Get the surgery Redshirt a year Comeback healthy as ever Profit.