chron: Rockets' McGrady to seek second opinions on knee

Look at all the wannabe shrinks. So cute. Breaking down his neuron firing sequences and everything.

I don't know about you, but if doctors gave me a treatment and told me that I would get better or that I'm fine, yet I'm still feeling as sick as ever many months after the treatment, I'd be doing exactly what T-Mac is doing -- continue searching until I can find a doctor who can figure out what the hell is wrong with my body. Medical mysteries occur all the time -- we even have TV shows entirely predicated upon that theme.

I was watching Discovery Health the other day and they were talking about a woman who started to have these debilitating headaches, and every doctor she went to told her that it was just a regular migraine and made the typical prescriptions. They ran every test they knew how to and everything came back fine. She eventually was forced to quit her job because of the pain. Later, by chance she happened to get a referral to a specialist, who managed to trace the headaches to a hole in her heart. Completely random. She was only weeks from death. They operated on her, and by the next day she was 100% again.

The moral of the story is: every conjecture and opinion about what Tracy's problem is, whether it's in his head, his work ethic, or whatever, is utterly baseless at this point. The only thing we know for sure is that his situation is a mysterious one, and we should be hoping he finds an answer to it. It could be that the only solution is microfracture surgery -- obviously that's not the news we want to hear (and it's possible that it's the news that Tracy and the Rockets desperately don't want to hear either). Either way, he's got to find answers. We'd all rather he was out on the court playing and contributing, but he has to do the right thing for himself and for the team. Whatever the doctors have been diagnosing or prescribing so far, it's obviously not working. If they were right, then he ought to be better now than he was 10 months ago. He isn't.

 

thank you for that story, its truly inspiring.

 

point taken. but to compare an average woman to an nba player who gets paid tens of millions each year - the logic is questionable. mcgradyhas access to all the best doctors and medical helps possible - something an average joe can't say.

and yes, there has been medical mysteries and miracles. but what are the odds that mcgrady's case is one of them - especially given how the drama has unfolded this year?

yes, we are all just fans. and we are all in one way or another speculating - based on the info that has been reported. we should not be pretending that we know a lot with certainty. but in mcgrady's case, like i've said, either way we're doomed. and we need to move on - that much is for sure.

 

Being rich doesn't mean you automatically have the best medical advice in the world at your fingertips. Medical science is a very deep, widespread and complicated field, continually improving with new discoveries. Sometimes you have to travel far to find the specialist who knows how to figure out a particular situation. The so-called Waco witchdoctor is a good example -- supposing that guy never pursued his particular field of medical specialization, or perhaps he decided to set up his practice in Lithuania instead of Waco. Do you think that T-Mac's millions would have automatically guaranteed that he would have found that treatment for his back?

 

Do you ever wonder why some nights T-mac can play and other nights he can't? He seems to be running just fine out there to me and last time I checked you need your knees for that. This whole subject has been analyzed to death and for any of you to have a halfass excuse for a guy you don't even know is frankly just very sad. How many more T-mac circus shows are you guys going to fall for? He's not Jordan he never will be, he's to selfish to be anything even close to a real star in this league.

His teammates, coaches, doctors they all question him and his bull***** shananigans he comes up with every week. Sports writers and television analysts joke about him on a daily basis. He has become a joke in the league and has done nothing but put his team in jeopardy when he is out on the court making it a 4 on 5 game because he simply isn't playing to his abilities.

The guy is holding this team hostage pure and simple. The reason why we can't win a Championship is because this mangirl makes to much for us to sign another real star so we are screwed until his contract is up and we have to play these stupid baby games with Tracy.

JeopardE you are a T-mac homer and you should start thinking for yourself instead of sticking up for a guy that couldn't give two *****s about you, his team, or Houston. And congrats on watching Discovery Health.

 

Take it easy with the ad hominem attacks there. You might injure your fingers.

 

what should we do?
Guys,forget him!

 

the amount of dollars one possesses or the organization he works for possesses sure matters. do you imagine if i, an average person, had a knee problem and called dr. andrews and said "hey doc, can i see you tomorrow", he'd say "yeah, come on in anytime"?

in addition, the rockets as a pro-sports franchise certainly has the access and can get mcgrady (or yao, etc.; any player on the team) to all those top-of-the-line doctors and specialists quickly. using your own example - how did mcgrady get to see that doctor in waco? wasn't it because he plays for the rockets? do you think i as a fan could have a chance to get advice from charlie ward and then just go there in a couple of days to get the doc do what he did to mcgrady?

 

I've said the same thing over and over, he shouldn't trust the rox med staff at all. They have a failed history from francis to yao. The rox should just play as if he's not there.

 

Unfortunately there is currently no effective way to objectively measure the skill of a doctor. It's all about marketing and reputation. This is why there are cases of incompetent surgeons killing people for years without anyone ever saying anything. People judge doctors on their bedside and office manner more than anything else even though those things have no bearing on how good a surgeon someone is.

 

Seriously. Tracy mans up for a season when he had the same injury last year, but this year it's too much to bear? The MRI shows everything looks the same pre and post surgery, and you'd expect his shoulder is better this year than last.

 

It's not as if the Rocket's medical staff are the only ones providing McGrady with guidance on his knee situation. He's seen several outside specialists already along with whatever the Rocket's staff has been telling him. It sounds like he doesn't trust the staff already and the 2 or 3 additional opinions he's had on his knees. Let's see what he has to say after another 2 or three opinions on top of this.

 

-sigh- Someone just tell him he's hurt and cant play, that's apparently the opinion he's waiting for.

 

We have a winner!

 

This is total BS. TMac had time to find a doctor during his time off before and during the allstar break; to find out if he will play at all or if his knee is really messed up. I can't believe the organization allows him to dicate what he wants to do and when he wants to do it.