Is Penn State Downplaying Joe Paterno's Knee Injury?

by Mike on Nov 14, 2006 7:29 PM EST in Injuries

I received an email from a BSD reader this week who is a practicing orthapaedic surgeon. He suggests Penn State may not be completely forthcoming in their prognosis of Joe Paterno's knee injury. He offered the following opinion and asked to remain anonymous. It's important to note he has not had access to examine Joe and he has not had any access to x-rays so his information is based solely on what he has heard in the media.

I'm a practicing orthopaedic surgeon in [location withheld] and bleed totally blue and white. Graduated PSU in [year withheld] and attended [name withheld] Medical School.

From my own practice experience from treating elderly (yes, Joe is considered elderly physiologically) fractures that healing and recovery are slow. Also, there is no doubt that his mobility will be affected by this injury due to the severity of his fracture and ligament injuries. To put it in perspective, if you had these injuries, you would have had fracture surgery, an ACL reconstruction, and possibly MCL repair. This would mean a least 6 months of intensive rehab with no guarantee that your knee would be normal.

Obviously, Sebastianelli is dealing with a very articulate, stubborn man who refuses to admit that he is no spring chicken. I think reality will set in the next 4-6 months for Joe. I would not be surprised that he announces after the recruiting season that's he's done.

For what it's worth, a colleague of mine also agrees.

This certainly comes as bad news, but I can't believe anyone is surprised by this. The type of hit Joe took is the kind of thing that puts most 80 year old people in walkers for the rest of their lives.

BSD certainly hopes Joe has a full recovery and comes running out of the tunnel for the opener next season. But I won't be surprised if he doesn't.

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I agree...to an extent

Obviously, he doesn't need a 4.3 40 time to do his job. But being on the sidelines of a college football game requires some mobility. I don't care if you're a head coach or a cheer leader. When the play comes your way and a 240 lb linebacker is chasing down a 235 lb tight end, you better be able to get out the way. Lately Joe has shown he can't and he's taking more of these hits in practice.

I think what the good doctor here is trying to say is, when you're 80 years old nothing heals easily. Many people his age suffer an injury like that and never walk again without the aid of a cane or walker. Everyone thinks Joe is going to spend a few weeks on the treadmill and be just fine. The doctor is warning us we should not be so sure by sharing a dose of reality with us.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by Mike on Nov 16, 2006 2:37 PM EST 0 recs