Just wanted to let you guys know what happened to Matt Groenwald (my brother in law). Last week after training his leg was hurting, and he thought it was not just the usual soreness. He went to the doctor and they found 6 blood clots in his leg. Highly unusual, normally would only happen if you had a trauma to the leg or some kind of genetic problem. Anyway he went to another doctor Monday and they found another blod clot in his femoral artery. So I guess he will have to go on blood thinners and will be out a while. That's all my sister told me so far. Obviously Matt is pretty unhappy about this. I think he was really excited about the new coaching staff, and couldn't wait to start training. Especially since he did not play much after Bliss took over last year, he was looking foward to a really competitive training camp. Last year he came into camp as a rookie, and I guess the coach thought they had a hole at left back, and he asked a bunch of guys if they wanted to try out that spot. Even though Matt has always been an offensive minded midfielder, he was eager for playing time, and he beat out 2 higher drafted guys for that spot. I think he is hoping to get a shot at midfield this year (or really anywhere he can get playing time), but right now it looks like his leg will wipe out the Florida training and maybe the Argentina trip also.
Re: bad news wow... that is bad news, not just on a team level, but on a personal level... i hope things will turn out for the best, and am thankful that this got noticed before it became a life or death problem...
Re: bad news This definitely sucks for Matt on a personal level. Hopefully everything will work itself out. Let him know there is always an open spot in the Cauldron if he can't be on the field while recouping.
Re: bad news tell the soul reaper to come sit in the cauldron. preferably dressed in some sort of grim reaper garb. he was and is my favorite player, so this is certainly crappy crappy news. i wish him all the best.
Just so others of you know, the typical amount of time a person is on a blood thinner after a blood clot (either leg or lung) is ~6 months. That may be different with him, but 6 mos is the standard time for most patients. Whether Matt will be able to play or not while on blood thinners, I don't know, but if I were his doctor(s), it'd sure make me nervous. Increased risk of bleeding isn't something you want in an athlete of any kind.
Yeah this sucks, Matt was my favorite rookie last year FWIW. I hate to see something like this knock down an up an comer.
I can't see him playing this year. Maybe he could come back in time for the playoffs, but he needs to look after himself first. My father has phlebitis and I can tell you blood clots are nothing to mess with--if he plays this summer, he is taking his life in his hands. I just can't imagine anyone playing sports while trying to recover from SIX blood clots. Matt, if you are out there, here's to a thorough recovery, and don't rush it.
There is a story of an LA Rams linemen playing for weeks with the pain of an extremely large blood clot (sausage sized) in his leg. I only bring it up to mention that it seems important to know the cause and size of the clots as I'm sure it would make at least some difference. Details would be nice. Anyway, what is missing is a good body in practice, development of a young guy, depth at defender, maybe the Cup season missed, and glue type player '06 stats (19 games, 16 starts, 2 assists, 1 shot, 9:16 foul ratio, and no cards).
I believe this is the same thing that Trent Green dealt with just before the 2005 season. He had a stent inserted and could play within a couple of weeks. Obviously Green doesn't exactly run like the wind, so the situations are different. But there is a possibility Matt could play soon.
No, Trent's problem was numbness in his leg because blood flow was being restricted by the scar tissue in his knee. The stent was put in to help hold the artery open. This article says he was supposed to be taken off the blood thinners before playing a game.
Since you all have expressed concern and well wishes, I just wanted to pass on an update - more bad news -- in addition to the blood clots in the calf, the doctors also discovered a blood clot in Matthew's lung.
Damn, that's terrible. Maybe I've missed it in this thread, but do the doctors have an idea of why the clots are forming?
Wow....that really sucks. I certainly hope he is able to recover from this. His health should outweigh everything else right now.
Do you know if this is life threatening (i.e. the blood clot in the lung?) More info as you know it, if you don't mind.
The wizards website is saying that Groenwald is off to Argentinia. Is this a mistake on their part, or is he playing again?
He's not playing. He's still on the roster though. Matt came by the office one day last week and I talked with him for a bit. He's in as good of spirits as you can be in dealing with his sort of injury. Looks like it will be some time (months) until he can do anything more physical than walking though. I asked about his baby and he said the one positive thing to come out of all this is that he got to spend more time with his youngster.