EDITOR’S NOTE:George Visger caught up with me on the phone this morning just before arriving at a job site. George is back at work trying hard to help his family recover from losing their home after suffering another near-fatal brain shunt failure last October. George is one of the most remarkably intelligent and resilient guys I’ve ever met and his tenacity comes through in everything he does. I often talk to him about what might have happened with his life had he never played professional football and sustained his life-altering brain damage. He starts off with an answer to John Hogan’s earlier post (click HERE to read John Hogan’s comment). .
From TheUnion.com: George Visger, a Grass Valley resident, shows his 1981 San Francisco 49ers team photo and Super Bowl ring. Visger has undergone nine brain surgeries since he stepped off the football field for the final time.
This past week, we’ve probably seen even more media coverage on concussions than all past years combined. It’s been like a huge tsunami of people, events and timing all converging to drive interest in a subject that’s been hidden away by years of denial. . Terry Bradshaw had already made some side comments publicly last year while he was on the air and just as suddenly as he blurted them out – and as with all things NFL on network television – nothing more was ever brought up again until this past week. Bradshaw mentions his recent visit to the Amen Clinic in Newport Beach as part of Dr. Amen’s continuing studies on concussions and the brain. Here’s the clip from FOX Sports: . Video: Terry talks treatment .
And you can read the full article on MSN/FOX Sports – click HERE.
We haven’t been posting as much the past couple of weeks (Thanks for picking up the slack, Evan!) because we’ve been getting things ready for our upcoming Conference later this month at The South Point in Las Vegas. If you haven’t signed up yet, time’s running out to book your trip.
Sometimes you just have to shake your head and laugh when a situation gets so ridiculous and absolutely everyone else can see it except the very people who should be able to see it. Yesterday, Dr. Ken Stoller submitted the first part of his series on HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy) and how the treatment for George Visger and Wayne Hawkins has been progressing. When you read Part II today, you’ll realize that Dr. Stoller is now also getting a taste of the typical bureaucratic runaround that retired players have been encountering for years.
Up here in Seattle, we still remember when the King Dome was imploded (March 26, 2000) to make way for the new SafeCo Stadium that is now home to the Seattle Mariners baseball team. Earlier this morning, the old Texas Stadium was finally imploded now that Jerry Jones’ new Coliseum has finally been finished. So here’s a news clip of the Texas Stadium implosion. And with all the serious stuff about Dr. Amen’s brain scan study and concussions, we’re also including a little bit of humor from Mark Gungor on the difference between men‘s and women’s brains. Have a great Sunday!
Dr. Daniel Amen introduces and summarizes his recent breakthrough study of nearly 100 retired NFL football players’ brains using SPECT scans at his Amen Clinics. This summary chronicles some of the time line and history of how the study came about and the subsequent negative reaction from the NFL. Scientific evidence continues to mount for the case linking brain concussions to long-term brain damage and we can only hope that brain health finally gains a prominent place in all professional sports.
Wayne Hawkins has been fighting a losing battle with dementia and his wife, Sharon, finally got him in to the Amen Clinic recently. When she read Larry Kaminski’s recent post about his visit, Sharon sent us an e-mail about Wayne’s visit. She graciously allowed us to share this with all of you. Our thoughts are with you and Wayne, Sharon!
Here are some pictures from my second visit to the Amen Clinic this past December. I wanted to let some of the other guys see the entire process is actually painless and simple.
The annual RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) meeting was held last week in Chicago. A new study based on live brain scans of professional football players was announced and discussed at one of their presentations. Here’s the news release that you’ll probably never see on the NFL’s website:
Dr. Daniel Amen has just allowed us to post a great interview in which he discusses his interest in studying the current debate and issues, how his clinic is studying the problem, as well as some of the new findings that have started to come out of these ongoing studies. (The entire interview is only 13:00 minutes long and covers a lot of topics so please take a few minutes to watch this for yourself and your loved ones.)
Last Thursday, I made the trip down to the Amen Clinic in Newport Beach for my scheduled brain scan. Dr. Kristen Willeumier was there to greet me and helped me to understand the entire process involved with my brain scan. They did some tests on mental acuity and Dr. Amen happened to be at his main clinic between road trips for his current book tour and managed to take some time to meet personally with me as well. The entire experience was easy and relaxed and I was back on a plane heading home to Seattle that evening.
At a time when former players are communicating more than ever and becoming better informed on the various issues involving “us,” I want to urge all players to take advantage of the available resources being offered. Regardless of where you stand on the issues of retired players there is one thing I emphatically know for certain. We all subjected ourselves to hits or blows to the head! Whether it was in practice or in games, we all were subjected to head trauma. Personally, I was diagnosed in 1990 with Post Concussion Syndrome. The date is significant because it was 2 years after I left football and was deemed to be a permanent condition. For almost 20 years now I know what I’ve been dealing with and I have my ways to manage it. Unfortunately, I know so many former players who never thought of the head traumas they sustained as a player but are now having serious neurological issues (depression, mood swings, sensitivity to noise/lights, forgetfulness, etc.) well into the next phase of their lives.
We haven’t been posting as much the past couple of weeks (Thanks for picking up the slack, Evan!) because we’ve been getting things ready for our upcoming Conference later this month at The South Point in Las Vegas. If you haven’t signed up yet, time’s running out to book your trip.
“A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it, is committing another mistake.”
Dave,
