Is it strange there has been no comment about Fitz' injury yet?
If there has been, I apologize for missing it, but I havent seen anything official about what exactly his injury was. If we knew the extent of his injury, we could probably estimate a timeframe on his return. As it stands, I guess his status for next season remains unknown?
December 21st, 2012 at 12:58 PM ^
He broke his leg. Like, snapped it clean. It was covered right after the game.
December 21st, 2012 at 12:59 PM ^
Didn't they annonce that it was a broken ankle and that he had surgery soon after the Iowa game?
December 21st, 2012 at 1:03 PM ^
He had his surgery while the Iowa game was being played.
December 21st, 2012 at 1:04 PM ^
I realize that there was a broken leg, or ankle..or something. However, what was not revealed was whether there was any ligament damage, or anything like that. I have no medical knowledge, but I would think even a compound fracture wouldnt keep him out 9 months right?
December 21st, 2012 at 1:14 PM ^
I think it might
December 21st, 2012 at 1:38 PM ^
Why, oh why. Please don't post pics like this unless they are hidden by a link or something.
December 21st, 2012 at 4:38 PM ^
my mouth a little. To OP: Damn man, give a brother a warning or something. Now Im going to have nightmares. Maybe I can convince Kate Upton to pop in my dream and make me feel better.
December 21st, 2012 at 4:47 PM ^
Wait, you're male?
December 21st, 2012 at 4:51 PM ^
stomach. I would have loved to go into the Medical Profession. My only draw back is that I cant stand the sight of blood or injuries.
The Joe Theisman injury was tramatic for me. It took decades of therapy to get me to watch MNF again.
December 21st, 2012 at 5:06 PM ^
Oh, my bad. Well you could have been a fake doctor, like a pediatrician.
December 21st, 2012 at 5:48 PM ^
December 22nd, 2012 at 12:00 AM ^
Pediatricians sometimes have treat kids with horrible ailments, they still see a lot of bad things.
December 22nd, 2012 at 1:55 PM ^
December 22nd, 2012 at 9:11 AM ^
...may be unpleasant but football fans should see it. Maybe we should even be forced to look at such images. We all support the sport and revel in its glory but many of us are too quick to hide from the games darker sides and the brutality it impacts on the participants.
If you really want to be a football fan, it's worth looking at an imagine like that and imagining the pain of your own leg snapping. And if you find that uncomfortable then maybe it's time to reconsider whether you want to be a football fan.
December 21st, 2012 at 1:58 PM ^
Seriously dude. Not cool.
December 21st, 2012 at 2:52 PM ^
I was at the game, I have managed to avoid looking at pictures of it until today. I won't feel a bit guilty for negging you on sight.
December 21st, 2012 at 4:26 PM ^
Is it embarassing that I followed the little cursor guy around for like five minutes with my mouse? I feel like a cat trying to catch a laser pointer.
Mmm...Friday afternoon at work. So productive.
December 21st, 2012 at 6:16 PM ^
I am of the opinion that the guy who made that is spastic. There are some Fridays that are destined to be more non-productive than others.
December 22nd, 2012 at 8:37 AM ^
Do not repost that pic... It is kinda disrepectful.
December 21st, 2012 at 4:13 PM ^
I have no medical knowledge, but I would think even a compound fracture wouldnt keep him out 9 months right?But since you have no medical knowledge, what you think isn't very helpful, now is it?
December 21st, 2012 at 9:08 PM ^
I'm not sure the exact nature of Fitz' injury, but I broke my tibia and fibula and I was out about 8-9 months. My break was down towards the ankle, which looked similar to the pic of Fitz, although I'm not sure on the mechanics of his. My tibia broke first and that was a clean break, but it was broken from a posterior/medial impact force. So, my tibia broke clean and then pushed laterally shattering the fibula. It took three surgeries before it was all said and done. Initially they repaired the ankle with 9 pins and a metal plate. The surgery was more traumatic than the injury and it took months to reduce the swelling. One pin immobolized the joint from any movement. After about 4 months they removed the single pin that immobolized the joint. I was no weight bearing for about 5-6 months initially, then rehab and mobility work for a good 2-3 months before I could begin what I would call real strengthening and impact work like running, jumping, squatting, etc. At a full year they removed the remainder of the hardware after my baseball season. Even at a full year out I wasn't quite the same. It probably took roughly a year and a half before I felt 100% again once all the hardware was out and I went through my second rehab stint. Granted I am not a stud like Fitz, but I was a collegiate baseball player to give a point of reference and my injury happened when I was 17. It was really my second season back after the injury in college where I felt stronger than before, but my first season back was a little bit of a learning period and took some time to get used to being back out there. I still do not have the same range of motion in the injured ankle as I do the other one, but that didn't really impact my performance, but is still a kind of pain. Obviously Fitz is a better athlete, has better PTs and medical staff around him etc., but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he's not 100% and ready to be our #1 RB next year. Serious injuries, especially breaks in the legs are traumatic for athletes and take some time to recover from both mentally and physically. I can vividely remember the sound of my bones snapping as well as my foot pointing the wrong way. I can recall after being helped off the field trying to elevate my leg only to feel my bones slide to the back of my leg. These are not mental images that go away quickly. It takes time to realize you will be OK and it won't happen again, especially in an impact sport like football I'd imagine.
December 21st, 2012 at 9:19 PM ^
Wow, that sounds brutal. It sucks you had to go through that, but thanks for sharing.
December 21st, 2012 at 10:27 PM ^
Those kinds of injuries are challenging to deal with, but with the right attitude they can build strength. Fitz has been through that mental process before with the knee and he's also 5 years older than I was and probably has a great support system there. If he's anything like me he will probably be fine long term, I'm just not sure he will be "there" by the beginning of next season. I'm guessing he'll play, but will take some time gain confidence, game speed and strength, and mental toughness. He may not start to feel like his old self until sometime in early 2014, which is good for his NFL potential, but no so much for next year.
December 21st, 2012 at 8:16 PM ^
December 21st, 2012 at 1:12 PM ^
December 21st, 2012 at 1:16 PM ^
Given this staff's history of sharing this type of information, is anyone at all surprised that we haven't been told much?
Heiko, time for a predictive experiment: next time you are at a presser, when you or anyone else asks "How's Fitz?" lets lay down odds that you don't get more than a 3 word answer.
December 21st, 2012 at 1:13 PM ^
From what I understand, Fitz was injured while playing American Football. That better?
December 21st, 2012 at 1:15 PM ^
This is a repost from around the initial time of injury:
I would add that in addition to possible ligament damage, it would be important to know if it was:
a) JUST a tibia fracture
b) tibia-fibula fracture (tib-fib)
c) Pilon fracture where the tibia is fractured extending into the ankle joint
This would change the surgery done. There was also a reason that they did the surgery as an emergency (either it was open or the bloodflow to the foot was affected). If the fracture extended into the joint this would neccessitate more complex surgery (the other fractures can be fixed with rods [higher in leg] or plate and screws [this would likely be done for a lower fracture]).
None of these would be easy to recover from and we will find out more eventually (like in fall camp if he is practicing). Don't expect to see him in the spring though
As a fan I wish and hope for a full recovery. Good luck Fitz!
I would doubt that unless somebody interviews Fitz himself that we will know exact details...but don't be shocked if he medically redshirts next year (and less likely but unfortunately possible that he doesn't return to football)
December 21st, 2012 at 1:27 PM ^
Thanks. This is what I was wondering, if they had said anything about which bones were broken, if there was ligament damage, what type of surgery he had done ect.
I guess without an official explanation as to what exactly the damage was, we wont know until one of the coaches says something about it.
December 21st, 2012 at 1:17 PM ^
Alright, so MgoDoctors:
With a severe fracture like that, is there potential for it being an injury that could be career threatening or keep him out as long as an ACL tear for example? I assume that if the bone fracture were the only injury, that would be able to heal in time for spring practice. Then again, he may have broken the tibia and the fibula? Would that impact his recovery? Just curious as I'd like to think we could have a healthy Fitz behind Devin next year in case we dont get Greene. Thinking of Rawls taking handoffs behind a brand new OL makes me terrified.
December 21st, 2012 at 1:21 PM ^
His leg bent 90 degress halfway between his ankle and knee. I'm not a doctor, but I promise he broke both tibia and fibula, unless he has the most flexible bones EVAR.
December 21st, 2012 at 1:37 PM ^
Not neccessarily. I do think that it is likely, but I took another look (see below that someone is arguing that his shoe was coming off...maybe). Now this is a slightly grainy image and I am making a sideline diagnosis, but the fracture (assured) is inferior (low) enough and there is some eversion (bent out) in addition to the extreme non-anatomical plantarflexion (bending backwards).
The point of all this is that an isolated tibia fracture is unlikely. As you suggested a fibula fracture in addition (tib-fib) is quite possible. However, so is a tibia fracture with extension into the ankle joint. Neiter is very condusive to athletics at a high level.
December 21st, 2012 at 1:49 PM ^
December 21st, 2012 at 4:43 PM ^
injury. I was standing straight upwards and I looked down and I could see the entire bottom of my cleat. I thought "Oh shit, my cleat came off." Then I realized my foot was still in the cleat.
Then I said. "Oh shit, This is going to hurt by a lot".
And it did. And it still does 30 years later.
December 21st, 2012 at 1:19 PM ^
December 21st, 2012 at 1:24 PM ^
Theisman injured himself almost 30 years ago. Sports medicine has made major advances since then. We saw this with Justin Fargas, who broke his leg in a couple of places and needed an extended rehab time, but ultimately returned to close to full strength. I would expect Toussaint to make a reasonably full recovery at some point.
December 21st, 2012 at 2:26 PM ^
December 21st, 2012 at 3:20 PM ^
A goo din dictation? Was that surgery pioneered in Asia?
December 21st, 2012 at 11:17 PM ^
December 21st, 2012 at 7:17 PM ^
The immediate surgery was probably the application of an external fixator because of the risk of developing a compartment syndrome, and would be unrelated to the comminution (clean break vs shattered) of the fracture. Once that risk subsided (a few days to a week later), they would remove the x-fix and put a rod in his tibia, and they may or may not have also plated the fibula (assuming it was broken). Just looking at the pictures of the injury it looked too proximal to be a pilon (which is a good thing for Fitz).
December 21st, 2012 at 1:22 PM ^
December 21st, 2012 at 1:24 PM ^
I think that picture looks worse than what the injury was because his shoe is in the process of coming off
December 21st, 2012 at 1:32 PM ^
With his foot still inside it.
December 21st, 2012 at 1:33 PM ^
December 21st, 2012 at 1:34 PM ^
Methinks you are confusing "shoe" with "foot." His foot was in the process of coming off.
There were about 12 camera angles, and each of them showed pretty clearly that OH MY GOD STOP SHOWING THAT.
December 21st, 2012 at 11:13 PM ^
December 21st, 2012 at 1:33 PM ^
Even football players have HIPAA rights. I'm glad to see Hoke and staff adhere to the rules.
December 21st, 2012 at 1:46 PM ^
December 21st, 2012 at 1:51 PM ^
They apply to covered entities and employees (or contractor/business associates) of covered entities. I don't think I don't think that definition could be stretched far enough to cover Hoke.
December 21st, 2012 at 2:46 PM ^
contractors/business associates of the athletic department?
In any regards students have student privacy rights beyond medical ones, but certainly medical ones fall under student privacy rights.