Jon Jansen on Ambry Thomas from his podcast
When discussing the recent disclosure of Ambry Thomas’ diagnosis with colitis on his podcast Wednesday, Jansen likened the situation to that of Grant Newsome. Jansen says, “We had [Grant] on last year on the podcast was Grant Newsome. Where he suffered a devastating injury, and it ended his football career. We don’t know yet if Ambry Thomas will be able to come back. We hope he will.”
If you care to listen for yourself, the link is posted below. The topic begins at the 8:55 mark.
https://mgoblue.com/sports/2017/6/16/podcasts-in-the-trenches.aspx
August 16th, 2019 at 12:24 PM ^
Sam said yesterday his hope is he comes back for the first bye week and is on the field for Wisconsin. I think Jansen is sensationalizing here.
August 16th, 2019 at 12:35 PM ^
Well hell. My "hope" is that he comes back this afternoon. But predicting anything about the timeline of an inflammatory or immune disease is near impossible.
August 16th, 2019 at 12:43 PM ^
I don't think Sam is shooting from the hip here, smart-ass. Ambry's weight is back up and he's running. Jim said we'd know more about when can practice again in the next few days.
August 16th, 2019 at 1:07 PM ^
True.
AT’s condition wasn’t just diagnosed last week, it’s merely when it was made public.
August 16th, 2019 at 1:55 PM ^
he's not shooting from the hip, but sam did clarify that his opinion was not even based on talking to team doctors or personnel, but medical professionals in the field to get an informed opinion. it was not reportage, but rather informed editorializing (which i am not criticizing at all, I found it helpful, just putting in context).
sam also confirmed that ambry has ulcerative colitis, which is a lifelong autoimmune disease that flares up unexpectedly, and can be controlled but not cured (yet). treatment includes biologic injections that have potentially serious side effects by disabling components of the immune system, or steroidal treatments whose effects are generally even worse.
i can attest that the first year of such an illness is especially difficult. i am optimistic that he can return, but would not be surprised if it was next year. either way, i hope the best for him!
August 16th, 2019 at 1:09 PM ^
Timeline may be unpredictable but this wasn't an injury like Newsome's where it is damn near impossible to come back. I mean, dude almost lost his leg.
I have a buddy with colitis, sucks big time but it's not debilitating.
August 16th, 2019 at 1:14 PM ^
It doesn't need to be debilitating to knock you down from an elite athlete to one who cannot compete at Michigan.
And before anyone gets their dander up, this is just an observation of a reasonable possibility, not something I'm claiming is the case. I know nothing about colitis.
August 16th, 2019 at 1:55 PM ^
I meant debilitating as in something that is almost impossible to come back from. Jansen implying that colitis is anything like Newsome's injury is just ridiculous. I'm not discounting the seriousness of colitis, it's just not career threatening.
It's a disease that sucks a lot and it's hell to deal with, but once he gets in under control and manages it he'll be able to come back and play.
August 16th, 2019 at 1:09 PM ^
One would think. Colitis isn’t good but it’s usually not career ending.
August 16th, 2019 at 4:08 PM ^
Typically, no it would not be. My daughter has colitis. The main issues are what type of medication/treatment will Thomas respond to, and how quickly will that happen ? Some of the medications take many months before they work themselves into your system and allow you to function somewhat normally again.
August 16th, 2019 at 1:15 PM ^
This isn't a sports injury. I have a hard time believing that any doctor could provide a clear timeline one when a player would be back to peak athletic performance when dealing with this kind of condition.
August 16th, 2019 at 2:41 PM ^
Listening to the podcast, Jon’s point is that the team and the Michigan athletic communities rallies around and fully supports it’s sick and injured athletes. They are rallying around Ambry like they did with Grant. I don’t think Jon was implying anything about the severity or expected absence.
August 16th, 2019 at 4:33 PM ^
I like Jansen's podcast because he gets good access to people in the program, and he obviously knows the game...BUT why must he do a poor job of the poor job that Brandstatter does of trying to imitate Bo. This leads me to realize that Jansen will probably one day replace Brandstatter (he'd be good) but also makes me realize they apparently are not going to do anything about getting a real PBP in the booth and the current team could go on for 10 more years if they feel like it.
August 16th, 2019 at 3:56 PM ^
I wouldn’t assume he’s sensationalizing with ulcerative colitis. I can definitely see where it would take an edge away from an elite athlete amongst other elite athletes. If it flares up again this season I’d guess they’d be looking to redshirt (if he’s still under the 4 game limit).
Hope he heals fast I felt like this would be a breakout year for the kid on defense. He’s got to be devastated.
August 16th, 2019 at 6:28 PM ^
I’ve had Ulcerative Colitis for 20 years. Diagnosed at 19 and played DII College soccer. All cases are not the same but the Biologic therapies out now are game changers. Praying for my man. I can sympathize and empathize.
August 16th, 2019 at 12:33 PM ^
Sam said his weight is "back up" to 185. That would imply that whatever was ailing him is either over with or he's close to recovery. But maybe not?
August 16th, 2019 at 12:38 PM ^
Not in the least. If it's UC it comes and goes, possibly for the rest of his life. If this is his first bout of it, it probably just means his first major flair is subsiding. If it's like my wife, he could flair again at any minute.
People shouldn't be shocked if he never plays again. I hope that's not the case though, and either it's not so serious or he gets it under control - like some people can.
August 16th, 2019 at 12:59 PM ^
Yep, based on this thread I threw some info in a diary. My wife was diagnosed 4 years ago, and has been on very mild medications, but had 4 flares. Each one lasting 3-6 months. Part of that is that she was trying to avoid some harsher drugs... but yeah. He needs to find a treatment that keeps him in remission.
August 16th, 2019 at 1:09 PM ^
At this point, I think it's all just speculation. Is it UC, is it Crohns, or is it some sort of temporary colitis? Without knowing that, it's impossible to say with any sort of accuracy what might happen.
I'm really sorry for Ambry though. You don't drop however many pounds as a young fit dude, put it back on, and then bounce right back to 100%. That stuff drains your body for a long time - bad nails, hair falling out, slow to heal, poor energy. And if it is one of the serious forms of colitis, a lot of the infusion based biologics cause your body to be slow to heal while you're on them.
August 16th, 2019 at 5:06 PM ^
FWIW sam reported that it was UC on the roundtable yesterday.
August 16th, 2019 at 1:29 PM ^
Humira. Ask your doctor about it, I'm not kidding.
August 16th, 2019 at 5:56 PM ^
This, Humira has given me my life back.. not exaggerating at all.
August 16th, 2019 at 6:32 PM ^
Thumbs up for Humira. I never had to take it, but I did spend two years of my life defending it in court when Johnson & Johnson came after it in patent litigation. It's gratifying when I meet people whose lives have been helped by it.
August 16th, 2019 at 1:43 PM ^
If AT gets on an elimination diet, he could quickly identify his trigger foods and nearly eliminate any symptoms. That's bro science, but I'm just saying the range of possibilities is never again a problem to never again playing football.
August 16th, 2019 at 1:57 PM ^
He will be under the care of a world class GI team. The same team that couldn't really help my wife. As you say, he could never have another issue or he could end up needing to get half his gut removed. Assuming it's UC, the alternatives where he ends up as good as he was previously are much less likely than the ones where he loses at least a step due to his illness.
Of course, as I said, none of us even know what "colitis" means in this case so... who knows.
August 16th, 2019 at 3:00 PM ^
Agreed. I went to the UM hospital when I had cdiff because I didn’t want the stuff coming back, so If that meant a fecal procedure than I wanted to get it done ASAP. I made an appointment with an expert in the field and an Infectous disease doc sat in as well. Michigan is a leader in colitis research so Ambry is in great hands. Also we don’t know what kind of colitis he has, it could have been cdiff from an antibiotic, crohns or UC. My brother in law is a fat lazy turd who has crohns and lives a normal life with the help of meds.
August 16th, 2019 at 4:32 PM ^
+1 for calling your brolo a fat lazy turd.
August 16th, 2019 at 3:44 PM ^
The IBD team at UM is top notch, I'm sure he's in real good hands. They don't have a long waiting list for no reason, as an athlete I'm sure he got to jump the line.
Also re: colitis in general. My brother in law has it, had really bad flares through college but hasn't had one since Christmas 8-9 year ago (that poor MFer couldn't eat Christmas dinner, I felt awful, but the food was delicious). Then again there are people that deal with it their entire lives once symptoms show up. It varies person to person.
August 17th, 2019 at 8:06 AM ^
Yeah it effects different people different ways. The biggest thing is eating clean which I believe Ambry probably does being an athlete. There’s a few things that if I eat I’m making a deal with god the next morning but for the most part im fine. I learned two days ago that wasabi has the ability to go through one like a scud missile.
August 16th, 2019 at 12:34 PM ^
Trying to make a connection to Newsome's situation seems like a lot of speculation
August 16th, 2019 at 12:35 PM ^
You're misrepresenting what he said, IMO. He wasn't implying Ambry was done with football at all, just that he has a set-back he needs to work through.
August 16th, 2019 at 12:54 PM ^
If OP is accurate, Jansen has to be fishing for clicks.
August 16th, 2019 at 1:08 PM ^
This is a horrible disease. Here are the symptoms.
Ulcerative colitis symptoms can vary, depending on the severity of inflammation and where it occurs. Signs and symptoms may include:
- Diarrhea, often with blood or pus
- Abdominal pain and cramping
- Rectal pain
- Rectal bleeding — passing small amount of blood with stool
- Urgency to defecate
- Inability to defecate despite urgency
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
- Fever
- In children, failure to grow
Most people with ulcerative colitis have mild to moderate symptoms. The course of ulcerative colitis may vary, with some people having long periods of remission.
August 16th, 2019 at 1:27 PM ^
He was talking about that in terms of how the entire org rallied around grant when faced with the prospect of a serious injury and how they’ve done that with AT as well - I understand how you can interpret that but he wasn’t saying this is career ending but rather it’s very serious and requires the whole organization to support him in his recovery however long that takes. It’s always possible with chronic Illness that he can’t come back from it but that’s not been the word form insiders
August 16th, 2019 at 1:38 PM ^
Comparing colitis and Newsome's injury is honestly irresponsible reporting
August 16th, 2019 at 1:43 PM ^
He’s not a reporter. He has an office in the building. He’s part of the staff or the athletic department in some capacity. I think OP just misconstrued his point and an off handed comment - Jansen isn’t always careful with his wording
August 16th, 2019 at 3:40 PM ^
Colitis?
Eat better, manage stress (mindfulness), and enjoy a long career...
August 16th, 2019 at 5:23 PM ^
Personally I don’t think it’s really our business if Ambry is having coitus, how often or with whom.
However If he is losing weight because of it maybe he should be more selective.
August 16th, 2019 at 8:42 PM ^
The physical act of love?
August 18th, 2019 at 10:41 AM ^
Yikes...I hope everything works out for the young man. The reports are all over the place on the severity...I didn’t know stuff like crohn’s could knock you out like that