Rudy's Medical Condition: Diagnosed with bladder tumor

Rudy would miss Seattle's game?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=230316010

The mood was dampened somewhat with word that Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich would miss the team's game at Seattle on Tuesday as he undergoes testing for a bladder condition. He said he expected to rejoin the Rockets as they continue a five-game West Coach swing.


I hope he's fine.

 

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/1821482


Rudy T undergoes tests; to miss start of road trip
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich will undergo tests on a bladder condition today and will miss the start of the Rockets' five-game, eight-day road trip, Tomjanovich announced Sunday.

Tomjanovich learned of the condition last week, but was originally told additional testing could wait until after the season. But Friday, doctors said that it would be wiser not to put it off.

"I was experiencing some symptoms a few days ago and decided to go in for a doctor's visit," Tomjanovich said. "The preliminary tests showed that there was a need for a more thorough look, which will be conducted on Monday. I expect to be back with the team during the trip if all goes well."

Tomjanovich told his players about his plans after Sunday's game. Rockets assistant coach Larry Smith will serve as the acting head coach until Tomjanovich can rejoin the team.

Tomjanovich never has missed a regular season game as Rockets coach.

Tomjanovich, 54, is in his 12th season as Rockets head coach and his 32nd with the organization. He was named interim coach Feb. 18, 1992, and officially became the Rockets' ninth head coach May 20 of that year.

 

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/1821574


Games pale in comparison to Rudy T's looming health crisis
By FRAN BLINEBURY
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
Coaches are always dealing with adversity.

Missed plays. Bad decisions. Lost games.

They are the ones who wear out their thumbs hitting the rewind button for the videotape machine, fretting over how to fix things. They are the ones who stay up all night long, worrying about what might go wrong next.

Rudy Tomjanovich will have tests done today at Methodist Hospital and a biopsy performed to determine whether an abnormality that has shown up on his bladder is cancerous.

"A lot of emotions go through you," he said. "Fear is one."

These are the times when real life careens through an intersection in these games we take so seriously and hits you head-on.

One minute there seems to be nothing more important than the next game, the next matchup, the next call by the referees.

The next minute, there are traces of blood in your urine and the only X's and O's and statistics that truly matter are the ones that show up on a lab chart.

"The doctors have made me feel comfortable," Tomjanovich said. "But nobody feels comfortable in this situation."

Because he is a public figure, his life quite literally will be under the microscope over the next few days. Yet this is a situation that is most difficult in the private confines of his family, his wife, two daughters and son.

When a man spends so much of his time out there in front of the world, first as a player, then for all of those seasons, stomping, whistling, suffering and celebrating on the sidelines, he becomes bigger than life in one way and yet something less than an average human being in another.

It is easy to question every bit of strategy, each substitution, each personnel move and forget that through the heart of a champion beats real blood.

There he was pumping his fist into the air Sunday night following a crucial 85-75 win by the Rockets over the Suns as a joyous crowd of 15,717 erupted with the sounds of joy from days past.

There he was sitting on a chair in the middle of the locker room just a short time later, breaking the news of his medical condition to his players and telling them he wouldn't be joining them for the start of the five-game trip to the West Coast.

What had been a cacophony of youthful glee, with the players basking in the glow of Yao Ming's terrific clutch performance down the stretch and the big plays made all night long by Steve Francis, Kelvin Cato and Glen Rice, turned suddenly silent. You could have heard a sneaker drop.

Tomjanovich told his players not to worry. He told them they would be in good hands with Larry Smith at the interim helm and capably assisted by Jim Boylen and Mike Wells.

But his hands trembled as he spoke and his voice cracked.

"You get older," Tomjanovich, 54, said. "These things happen and you have to deal with them."

He first had suffered a bladder infection about a month ago, had it treated and figured all was well. But follow-up tests revealed the abnormality. Even if the biopsy proves positive, according to his doctors, the prognosis is good through topical treat for a full recovery.

In this NBA season alone, Dallas head coach Don Nelson has undergone surgery for prostate cancer and Lakers coach Phil Jackson had kidney stones removed. In the college ranks, UConn's Jim Calhoun and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim have had prostate surgery.

But who wants to be next? So Tomjanovich got the news he needed the tests late last week, before the game against the Bulls, and had kept it pretty much to himself.

"He's a big man, not saying a thing to us like that," Cuttino Mobley said. "I don't know how he did it. We're out there playing games that we think are a big thing in life and he's dealing with this."

They are the unexpected twists in the highway of big-time sports, the things that intrude occasionally to remind us of how ephemeral and silly it is when you boil it down.

Late in the fourth quarter, after a 24-point halftime lead had shrunk all the way to just six, Yao took the ball on the wing, looked into the middle and spun on the baseline past Phoenix's Jake Tsakalidis for a roaring slam dunk. A few moments earlier, Francis had missed a 3-pointer, but grabbed his rebound, lifted off an rammed it home.

"I was so proud of the way these young guys played today," Tomjanovich said. "They made me feel good."

After several days of feeling bad and a weekend of keeping things mostly to himself.

He finally shared his situation with everyone because for three decades now, so much of his life has been shared with Houston. From the time he spent two days in intensive care fighting for his life after the punch by Kermit Washington, to his battles with alcohol, to his climb to the top with the back-to-back NBA championships.

"It's easy to be a good guy when they're hanging banners for you," he said. "I'll try to be a strong guy through adversity."

That's real life. That's Rudy T.

Best wishes, buddy.



As the writer said: best wishes, coach.

p.s. Can anyone please tell me how can I send him a get well e-card? I can only find the sales email address on the rockets homepage. Thanks in advance.