| Words From The Heart Authored by Etan Thomas - October 23, 2007 - 1:26 pm
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October 23, 2007
Etan Thomas recently underwent open heart surgery to repair a leak of the aortic valve. The Wizards center is currently recovering and discussed his surgery, recovery, and other thoughts with the author and columnist Dave Zirin.
We start with the obvious. How are you feeling right now?
I am blessed. That’s all I can say. This entire process could have been much worse, the surgery could have been unsuccessful, my heart could have very easily rejected the replacement valve, and I have to remain thankful. Recovery is not going to happen overnight. My sternum has to be allowed two months to heal in order to return to normal activity much less professional athletics, but I am definitely on the road to recovery. I am feeling good. I have a lot of people around me who love me and genuinely care, and that is what has gotten me through.
This is why I was a little unhappy with some of the coverage. The people close to me were horrified when they opened the paper only to read a lot of unfounded, un-researched, speculative articles and statements. I believe the article in the Washington Times read, “Thomas could be done.” Another one in The Washington Post brought all of these different cases that had nothing to do with mine, and presented them as though they were one and the same. They wrote about the worst possible cases and scenarios they could find. Len Bias, Jason Collier, Hank Gathers (may they all rest in peace).
They just started throwing names and cases around without doing any research. They didn’t say that each case is different and although the heart is the common denominator in each case, comparing would not be intelligent to do until further details are obtained. At the time, the only details they were given were that I missed the beginning of camp to do further testing for heart irregularities. Now they took that small piece of information and turned it into these illustrious articles questioning if I will live, breath, walk, much less play ever again.
So when the people who actually do care about me open the paper, they are frightened by these mountains of poorly written, heartless, inconsiderate, writers whose only concern is to sell papers at any cost. It would be different if we were talking about the The National Enquirer, but we are not. I guess that’s the sad state of present day journalism. They don’t want little nuisances like facts to get in the way of a good story.
One thing about this surgery is that I understand was a mandatory routine test where they “detected” the leaky valve. What could have happened if they hadn’t caught it? What was your reaction when you heard?
That’s not exactly how it happened. Not to get too technical, but I have a bicuspid aortic valve with a heart murmur. Which is a leaky valve. I have had this pretty much all of my life, and have been keeping a close eye on it. Team physician, Dr. Barry Talesnick has been following it with me here in DC. I get tested twice a year. I’ll get a stress echocardiogram (EKG), a regular EKG and blood work. I don’t believe that’s standard for everyone, but for me personally it is. If they detect anything in Chicago at pre draft assessments, I believe that’s when it becomes standard for that individual.
Well, during my round of standard testing, Dr. Talesnick noticed that my numbers had changed. He alerted me of the change and recommended further testing. I saw two specialists including a Dr. Bowno in Chicago who is hailed and respected as one of the top heart specialists in the country. I read some of his papers and he recommended that I have the surgery now. It was a very difficult decision to make being that I wasn’t feeling any of the symptoms. However, after doing the research, and talking to the specialists, and Dr. Schaff, who is regarded as one of the top surgeons in the country, I talked it over with my family, prayed, and made the decision. I have to look at this as a blessing. At first, it was very difficult to view it in that manner, but the reality is that this could have been a lot worse.
I assume at the Mayo Clinic you got the finest health care in the world. Any observations on the health care industry you want to share?
Yes, I definitely did receive the best treatment in the world. It was interesting as I began to speak with some of the other patients at the clinic, who I am now friends with although most of the people there were much older than me. It was easy to develop a bond with so many different patients, because we would see each other so often. Through their stories, I saw the horrendous practices of our health care system at its worst.
Two people stand out from my time at the Mayo Clinic, although there were plenty more stories. One lady, an 83 year old sweetheart told me of how the insurance company actually made her wait for five years until her symptoms worsened before they allowed her to have the surgery. Her situation was similar to mine in that she was not feeling the symptoms yet, was not quite in the red, but her numbers had taken a turn for the worst, weren’t going to get better, and the longer she waited the more complicated the surgery was going to be. She was sure that they would have much rather seen her pass away than have to pay for the surgery. I was absolutely floored by her story.
Another man told me how his family, in order to receive the best care had to save up for six years instead of being required to go to the doctor who wouldn’t have in their opinion been the best. I can definitely understand wanting the best possible surgeon as the one who would perform my surgery. It’s just unfortunate when you hear these stories first hand and there are so many people who don’t think that there needs to be changes in our health care system.
I always get the question of why do I care? If I am one of the people who will be able to get the best health care plan, or have my children go to the best schools, or get the tax breaks, why am I always fighting for the other side. Well, the answer is simple, because it’s not fair. Everyone should have the right to the best doctors and surgeons. They shouldn’t be told to take different courses of action based on their insurance coverage. There is a lot of work that has to be done, and a lot of changes that need to be made.
Your body isn’t going to be active for some time. I know you have a restless mind. Other than rehab of course, what are you going to do to fill the hours? I know you are working on a book; more essays, less poetry? Can you break it down?
Sure. I have a lot of time to simply sit and wait for my body to heal. I enjoy spending time with my family, and I am blessed to have people close to me who will give the support I need. But you’re right, I do have a bit of a restless mind. I have been doing a lot of writing. There is so much to write about. From Bush now setting his sights on Iran (which is unbelievable) to Bill Cosby’s new book Come On People to O.J. Simpson, to Clarence Thomas. Trust me, I have had more than enough material to cover.
I am working on my next book. It will actually be finished shortly. The title will be Freedom to Speak (where sports, politics, race, and religion meet). This book will consist totally of essays. At the most I may include a speech or two but this book will focus on my writing. Since I began contributing to the Huffington Post and Slam Online, I have been doing a lot more writing in essay form. Poetry is still a great passion of mine, actually, a publisher proposed the possibility of re-releasing More Than An Athlete,, doubling the number of poems in the book, and having one book of poems and another book of essays. That doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but we’ll see.
The Wizards have been giving you a lot of love from Grunfeld and Jordan and a lot of players. Caron Butler called you “captain.” What does it mean to get that kind of support?
It feels great. I have seen the quotes that my teammates have made, and it’s good to get that support. In times like these, you find out quickly who really cares about you and who could care less. People from all around the league were calling me, wishing me well. Guys that I didn’t even know really liked me. But the main guy from the league who has helped me through this is Ronny Turiaf, who went through a similar ordeal.
Kwame Brown, who is a close friend of mine, put me in touch with Ronny, and that was the best thing he could have done. I asked Ronny so many questions and he gladly answered all of them. After awhile I thought that maybe I was asking him too much. I didn’t want to talk the man’s ear off, and my wife always accuses me of being long winded, but he was absolutely great. Checking on me to see how I was doing, and telling me some of the things to expect that the doctors may have left out. I just sent him a text this past Friday while I was watching them play Seattle. He was playing great. I even saw one time where he snatched off his chest protector and threw it. It’s real encouraging to see him playing like that. He would always tell me to relax, that I will be back to my old self, probably feeling better, but the hardest thing now is patience.
My off season trainer Jeff Rosga, of Lifetime Fitness, also put me in touch with Fred Hoiberg. Even though they were all the way in Turkey at the time, he still made it a point to call me, talking to him was great as well. Ronny and I have already discussed doing something in the off-season together with the American Heart Association or some type of charitable organization that will help people. This will definitely be as my wife and mom say, my “testimony.” Maybe someday, a guy will be calling me and I’ll help them the same way Ronny helped me. God has blessed me more than I could ever deserve, and every time I begin to count my blessings, I am incredibly humbled and thankful.
Please send any comments, questions, or words of encouragement for Etan to jmrosenth@yahoo.com.
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