Q: What happened?
A: It was blood clots. I didn't know it at the time. The high tolerance for pain I have, I was just brushing it off and I'm thankful that we have the training staff that we have and Ronnie (Barnes, VP, Medical Services) and the rest of the guys and Leigh (Weiss, Assistant Athletic Trainer). As soon as I came out of meetings, they were like, 'We're about to go to the hospital and get it checked out and see what the problem is.'
Q: Were you scared?
A: Not at the moment. I thought when I went there that I was going to just go there, get checked out and come right back to the hotel that night.
Q: What were the signs that something was wrong?
A: At first it was just a little pain in [my chest] and then my backside, the rib area. I thought I had just popped a rib or something like that so I just brushed it off. I was like, 'I'll get a massage, pop it back in Friday.' So I just practiced through the pain Friday, which was a lot of pain when I was running around on the field. I went out and got in the shower, I coughed up blood twice. I still put it off, 'It's just a rib.' Saturday came, I was feeling pretty good, feeling alright. I got into the meeting on Saturday. I was just sitting there listening to the coaches talk and give their presentations and [the pain] started intensifying. I was like, 'Something can't be right.' I have a high tolerance for pain. That was a pain I couldn't brush off so I guess it was the man above saying, 'Listen, this is something serious.' So I went and told Leigh (Weiss) and he called Ronnie (Barnes) over and they were like, 'We're going to get you [to the hospital] and see what's going on.'
Q: So you went to the hospital and you're still thinking it's not that serious?
A: Yeah, I was still thinking it was nothing serious when I was back there lying on the bed before we went in to get a CAT Scan.
Q: What happened when you realized it was serious?
A: After I got the CAT Scan I was just sitting there for an hour/hour and a half waiting. I was like, 'Something can't be right.' I always expect the worst and they came in sat down. I knew something was wrong when they were like, 'You have blood clots in both lungs.' I was like, 'Okay, am I going to get to play?' They said, 'We have one more bad thing to tell you. You have to stay here overnight.' I was like, 'Wow.' Because I've never stayed in a hospital before. I hadn't had any problems. So I was shocked on that not and to find out that I had blood clots in my lungs.
Q: Did you know how serious it was when they said blood clots in your lungs?
A: He told me they were small so that eased my mind. So I was fine. I wasn't fine with having blood clots, but when he told me how small they were I was thankful that we caught them and if I have to stay here a night or two, let's do it.
* *
Q: What's the next step?
A: Finish these injections off for the next two days and then after that just take a little pill once a day and get it out of there. I have an appointment scheduled within two to three months to see if they're all gone. If not, take it no more than six months and it should be gone.
Q: So you'll be okay?
A: Yeah, I'll be fine.
Q: Is this a freak thing that happened?
A: It doesn't run in my family. The doctor told me it could be from a few weeks prior. I hurt my back. It could've set in when I was laying on the plane. One step on the plane, I don't care if it's five hours, I just get up there and go to sleep. I don't move. I don't walk around or anything. It could have happened like that. Either [that or] getting hit on the leg and then setting in that way.
Q: No long term impact?
A: No long term impact at all. I'm excited about that.
Q: Having your bother there?
A: That made things ten times better. We have fun 24 hours a day when we're together so that made it even better. But I know it had him worried, big time.
Q: What did it feel like? A: Thursday it woke me up. Early Friday morning there was pain. I just brushed it off, went back to sleep, woke up again. It hurt a little, went back to sleep. Practiced all day Friday. It was pretty intense Friday, but it was pain I can tolerate. But Saturday evening, when I'm just sitting in meetings and steadily increasing I was like, 'No, something can't be right.' It was crucial at that moment so I went out and told Leigh about it, one of the trainers, and he called Ronnie over.Join other diehard Giants Fans!
Also be sure to Like the Giants on Facebook
Add us to your Google Plus Circle
Download the FREE GIANTS MOBILE APP by texting "Giants" to 51288 or by visiting iTunes, Android MarketPlace, Blackberry App World! *
*
