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No one knows what the future holds for Chris Bosh‘s NBA career. He was forced to sit out the majority of the past two seasons due to blood clots found in his lungs and calf. He has been taking blood thinners since and is hopeful he will be off the medications soon in order to be cleared to play this coming 2016-17 season.
Just before last year's playoffs, Bosh tried to convince his team, the Miami Heat, to allow him to play while taking a new medication that would be out of his system in eight to twelve hours, or by game-time. It would in effect lessen the inherent risks of playing a contact sport while on thinners, but the team rejected the idea. The decision angered the eleven-time all-star and even led him to rais the issue to the player's union. Yet even after his persistent push to be cleared to play, he was forced to watch his team battle in street clothes.
In an article by Barry Jackson of the Miami Hearald, two doctors gave their take on Bosh's situation. One of them is UHealth's Robert Myerburg, and he was skeptical with the idea of having new medications and getting it out of the body's system in eight to twelve hours:
“Someone who has had a second clot is more likely to have another, but the specific circumstances of an athlete might be different, If you take the total population of people who have had this thing, once you had a second, you're at risk for a third. But that doesn't get into the issue of how a subgroup [such as pro athletes] may behave because of things that make them more prone for blood clots.”
The other doctor interviewed was Clearwater-based Brett Levine, and he had this to say:
“Without blood thinners, yes I think he could play next season. They already did the work up after his first bout of blood clots to make sure he wasn't one of those individuals who has a disorder that makes him prone to making clots, which from media reports was negative.So in my opinion you just hope this was an unlucky coincidence and you take precautionary, non-invasive measures to make it less likely for him to get a clot again. These include simple things like walking during long flights and perhaps at night have him wear a sequential compression device, a device they use in hospitals to prevent blood clots by applying intermittent pressure to the legs. Perhaps even do periodic Ultrasounds to scan for clots which is also not invasive.”
Ultimately, whether Bosh will be able to continue his stellar NBA career is anyone's guess at this point. Some from Bosh's camp have even questioned the team's true intentions – is it because of the 32 year old's health or do the Heat just want to clear cap space and increase their chances of signing a big name free agent in the next two years?
It has not been a very good summer so far for Pat Riley‘s troops. Yes, they may have re-signed Hassan Whiteside and secured his services for the next four years, but they have seen their former franchise player and “Heat lifer” Dwyane Wade leave South Beach.
If Bosh will indeed be cleared by doctors to play, there is no question he'll be a big contributor for Miami and will continue to be one of the centerpieces in their quest to regain lost glory.
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