Mad Dog Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 (edited) His second... I mean, crap... The guy is only 35. Puts things in perspective. Hockey needs to be taking a back seat for him at this point in his life... If he doesn't retire after this, I don't know what he is thinking. Edited December 1, 2022 by Mad Dog 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilldoc Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 1 hour ago, Mad Dog said: His second... I mean, crap... The guy is only 35. Puts things in perspective. Hockey needs to be taking a back seat for him at this point in his life... If he doesn't retire after this, I don't know what he is thinking. Yeah ... I saw this earlier this morning. Agree...even though I dislike the organization, I never wish ill will on a player. At 35, he has had one heck of a career ...time to move on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatic Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 I was worried that he returned after his first stroke. Now that he has had a second stroke I hope he enjoys his retirement. He has had a wonderful career. This also brings up questions regarding the Penguins medical staff. Typically it is not a good idea to allow anyone to return to a job, after a stroke, where they will get their head knocked around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 1 hour ago, Lunatic said: Typically it is not a good idea to allow anyone to return to a job, after a stroke, where they will get their head knocked around! It is possible to recover from a stroke and be competent in your day to day life and make important decisions - I have friends and family that testify to that - but that's entirely different from a physical professional sport. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 Christ is that way too young. Wasn't much of a fan of his but I hope he recovers enough to live normally. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notfondajane Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 9 hours ago, pilldoc said: Yeah ... I saw this earlier this morning. Agree...even though I dislike the organization, I never wish ill will on a player. At 35, he has had one heck of a career ...time to move on. Agreed I was thinking a front office job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B21 Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 So he's back at practice. Not surprised he's back...just that it happened so fast. Officially, he's day to day. I copied the article from the local paper. Sheds some light on his situation. He was born with a small hole in his heart. Not sure if that is connected to the strokes but it does seem that he (and the team) are very keen to recognize symptoms (and quickly treating them) and that playing hockey will not make his situation worse. I have to think his physical conditioning helps as he's known to be a health and fitness wackadoo even before the strokes. The Pens partner with UPMC which is one of the finest hospital systems in the world so he literally has arguably the best possible care available to him. If the Pens and their medical staff have anything going for them it's the ability to deal with these possible career-ending conditions. Mario and cancer. Crosby and concussions. Letang and strokes. Less than two weeks removed from suffering the second stroke of his career, defenseman Kris Letang is back in action. During Thursday’s practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, Letang sported a yellow sweater, signifying that he was a full-contact participant. He had the stroke Nov. 28. As for playing in games, Letang’s status is “day-to-day”. “I think everybody is excited when he gets to join the team,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said after practice. “It’s just an indication of the progress that he’s made. He’s obviously a huge part of this team. “To see him on the ice, I think for all of us, it’s just a little bit of a sense of relief.” Letang was cleared to practice by the team’s medical staff led by Dr. Dharmesh Vyas, who has served as the team’s head physician since 2013. Vyas was around for the first stroke of Letang’s career in 2014, which caused him to miss two months worth of games and practices. Letang’s diagnostic assessment was much quicker than in 2014, considering the team already had been through one stroke with the longtime Penguins blue-liner. “His stroke this time was much smaller than it was last time,” Vyas said. “His symptoms have resolved a lot quicker than they did the last time, as well. We know what to expect. The data has also evolved in terms of how this hole (in his heart) is to be treated.” Letang, who said he typically gets one to two migraines every couple of months, started to get them every three hours on Nov. 28. He made notice of the cycle, informed Dr. Vyas, was booked for an MRI and then went to the hospital. Three days later, Letang first skated on an individual basis on Dec. 1. Prior to the team’s morning skate at PPG Paints Arena before Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Letang did a full on-ice workout. On Thursday, he rejoined his teammates in a formal practice setting, rotating in with fellow defensemen Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Chad Ruhwedel. “He’s always surprised us with how well he heals,” Vyas said. “We don’t think this is accelerated in any way. We’re taking all the right precautions to make sure he is safe to go out and play. And when that time comes, we’ll let him go back to playing his sport.” Vyas does not think that playing hockey itself is “risky” for Letang, who was born with a very small hole in the wall of his heart. Even with his quick return to practice, Letang is going to rely on Vyas to ensure that he doesn’t hurry back to game competition too hastily. “We’ve been through this, me and Dharmesh,” Letang said. “We have a clear understanding that we’re going to take all the time we need and make all the research possible to make sure that it’s safe for me to play and there’s no danger.” In addition to his own health, Letang has his family of four to worry about as well in his wife, Catherine Laflamme, and his children, Alexander and Victoria. Letang said dealing with his second stroke has been “scary” for his family. “My kids, they don’t care if I’m a hockey player or not. They care about having a dad,” Letang said. “Same thing with my wife, she can’t care less about hockey and everything. She knows that there’s so much more after hockey, there’s a long time. You want to be able to enjoy those moments with your family, with your kids.” As it pertains to his mental health, though, Letang said it felt good to get back to practicing with the team. The 35-year-old defenseman is in his 17th season with Pittsburgh, and despite his latest medical scare, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be cutting short the six-year contract extension he signed with the Penguins in July anytime soon. “It’s a scary word; stroke is a scary word,” Letang said. “I’ve been lucky that these things resolve on their own and I can go back to a normal life. People know me well by now and know that hockey is a passion for me. It’s something that it’s going to take a lot to drag me out of.” 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilldoc Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 @B21 Great to see you posting here again. Many of us miss you. Hope all is well! ~doc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B21 Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 @pilldoc Thx! I've been meaning to be on more. All well and good. That life thing comes at you fast. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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