They better be great at doing this procedure because I have never seen someone have this much of a serious knee injury after having arthroscopic knee surgery. Info about Dr Cole: http://www.cartilagedoc.org/about_cole.cfm I also have a question. How long will it take for us to find out how much cartilage McGrady needed in his knee?
The most important question is this? Whether it's 1 1/2 inch or a centimeter, would you honestly know the difference? Or have you performed this type of surgery numerous times?
1/2 centimeter and 6-12 months per Fiegen Heading to microfracture, McGrady's future's no joke I keep coming back to one of my father's favorite jokes. My dad has a sense of humor a lot like my sons' father. But that's not why I keep repeating it in my head. "A man is heading to surgery when he asks the doctor, 'Doc, when this is all over, will I be able to play the piano?' "'Sure," the doctor tells him. 'I don't know why not. It's knee surgery." "That's great," the man says, "because I never could play the piano before.' " Somehow, as Tracy McGrady is wheeled into surgery on Tuesday, I don't expect the conversation to go quite that way. Still, I can't help but feel that McGrady is a little bit like the guy hoping to be transformed into a pianist. He is, I'm sure, seeking only a solution to the left knee pain that kept returning to him this season, hoping simply to play and work harder and longer and better than he did this past season. The Rockets team physician, Tom Clanton, said he has spent many hours talking to McGrady about cartilage replacement, its risks and prognosis. And every NBA player has heard the stories ranging from Terrell Brandon and Allan Houston to Amar'e Stoudemire and Antonio McDyess. It just feels as if McGrady is hoping to find a miracle. "My personal focus now," he wrote on his website, "is to look forward and dedicate myself 100 percent to returning to the court and returning to be the player I was and know that I still am." He has reason to be optimistic. The lesion is on a non weight-bearing bone and is about a half-centimeter in size, requiring less cartilage replacement. For now, the recovery time is estimated at six to 12 months, with a more specific estimate expected when they get to peek inside. Microfracture surgery is risky. Some never come back. Clanton is optimistic based on knowing McGrady's knee as well as anyone. But he said he believes McGrady can again be the player he was this season, minus the pain and setbacks. That is a bit like saying Alex Rodriguez had a good month other than the steroid revelations and confession, but he does make a point. Clanton believes McGrady can be a good, solid player, but did not predict he will be what he was at 24-years-old. He will likely neither be able to play the piano, or smash dunks over the next Shawn Bradley or lead the NBA in scoring. There's nothing wrong with that. I always felt he could help the Rockets this season. His skills and feel for the game are so great, he does not have to be amazing to be effective. He, however, could not make it work. Without the pain, he can still be much more of an asset than he was this season. A fair guess would seem that he will be more in the Chris Webber range of microfracture comebacks, good but not what he was, probably somewhat better than what Webber was with less size and years to overcome. Expecting more than that, much less a transformative miracle, seems to be too much to ask. Posted by Jonathan Feigen at February 23, 2009 07:27 PM
I do Micro Fracture surgery for ankle, i also do cartilage replacement (mosaic-plasty) where i take cartilage out of the knee and place it in the damaged ankle. I usually tell my patients to expect one year of pain and swelling before they can return to normal life activities. Clanton is one of the if not THE top sports med surgeons in the US. That should answer the question as of how good he is. If he says TMac can play then he should be able too.
ACL, can you answer something for the T-Mac critics since you are an orthopedic? Most of the T-Mac haters think (1) he is lazy and this would have not been a problem if he would have just rehebbed harder and (2) he is a baby and should have just played through the pain. After seeing what my daughter went through with similar circumtsnaces, my beleif is that rehab to increase strength and flexibility would not have helped if he has missing cartilage rubbing bone on bone and also the pain would be too severe. Please give your opinion.
I assume you are a T-Mac hater and you have a problem with anyone who may give him the benefit of the doubt. He frustrates me like he does many on this board because I feel he doesn't get the most out of the talent he has. that said, if he was hurt, he was hurt. My post was just trying to get some actual facts about the knee injury from a doctor. Everything else on this board bashing T-mac about his knee is bull**** if we don't have the medical knowledge to back up the assertions.
I agree with you, but I still don't dismiss McPastry's lousy ass excuse for an announcement that HE has decided to shut it down for the season. That was the most insanely idiotic way of handling that situation. Stephen A. Smith and Tmac.com should have been the last sources to find out, not the first.
I would like to know the answer to this question as well ACL it seems there is too much opinions surrounding his knee and we need some clear basic medical authority on it
Your problem is that you think people who are critical of Tracy are "haters." The criticism of Tracy is because he has a history of exaggerating and quitting when things get tough. If Yao had this injury or if Shane had this injury you would not hear the criticism from most of us because neither of those guys has a reputation like Tracy's. It's about the sum of McGrady's career and not one isolated incident. My suggested reading assignment for you tonight is "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"
damn well maybe i should go see clanton for my jacked up knee. by any vague chance do you know anything about dr. randall schultz?
I concede he lacks mental toughness. I beleive because things have just been too easy for him because of his enormous natural talent. The thing is, this year I tend to beleive that he could not play, while many on the board contend that he just would not play hard. If he is physically unable to perform, there is no amount of heart that would have let him play well. Hence, my querry for ACL.
