The Coon Dog
09-01-2008, 02:50 AM
Giansiracusa on track for Round 1 (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,23025434%255E20322,00.html)
09 January 2008 - Herald Sun - Mark Stevens
FIRST the bad news: Daniel Giansiracusa has suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,1658,5833304,00.jpg
Lucky dog: Daniel Giansiracusa is restricted to a leg brace.
Now, for the amazingly good news: He has dodged a season-ending reconstruction and is on track to play in Round 1 against Adelaide on March 22.
The Western Bulldog twisted the knee changing direction at training on December 7 and the medical staff feared the worse.
Bulldogs doctor Gary Zimmerman offered a quick clinical diagnosis, telling Giansiracusa: "Mate, you've torn your ACL."
It was the worst possible news, and it was delivered a fortnight before Giansiracusa's wedding.
Scans revealed Zimmerman was right, but fortunately the tear was at the lower end of the scale.
"Imagine the cruciate as like a piece of rope that's got two bundles to it. It was like the fraying of the rope," Zimmerman said. "The rest of the knee was perfectly OK. No bone bruising. No cartilage injuries."
But Giansiracusa was warned he still might need a reconstruction.
Thoughts of surgery were pushed into the background, particularly with the 25-year-old's wedding and honeymoon looming.
And given Giansiracusa was suffering from only low-grade instability in the knee, both Zimmerman and surgeon David Young hoped the ligament would "scar up" and fix itself.
"We thought we might be able to get away with this without an operation. We hoped and prayed mother nature would do its job," Zimmerman said.
"We reassessed him before he got married and it looked like it was scarring up and David and I were pretty positive.
"He went away on his honeymoon, rested it, and now he's back it's really scarring up nicely."
Giansiracusa will start running in about 10 days and will be carefully eased back into training with the aim of playing practice matches before the season.
"We said to him he'd miss the year if he was to have a reconstruction," Zimmerman said. "But sometimes you can try this. A good analogy is the ankle ligament. We don't reconstruct every ankle ligament injury."
Giansiracusa will have to be cautious for several weeks, but the Dogs are taking heart from the fact it is not completely new for a player to continue without surgery.
Former Bulldog Jose Romero suffered a similar injury and played on without an operation.
Ben Harrison also survived without an operation during his time at Richmond.
"The early signs are looking good. We're confident he's going to be OK, but we know that life's full of risks in this game," Zimmerman said.
"There are enough people who have been through this and thrived at the top level. No one turned and twisted like Jose Romero and he got through his career with it."
"The tissue of some people heals better than others. It may be some of Gia's European blood doing the trick for him."
09 January 2008 - Herald Sun - Mark Stevens
FIRST the bad news: Daniel Giansiracusa has suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,1658,5833304,00.jpg
Lucky dog: Daniel Giansiracusa is restricted to a leg brace.
Now, for the amazingly good news: He has dodged a season-ending reconstruction and is on track to play in Round 1 against Adelaide on March 22.
The Western Bulldog twisted the knee changing direction at training on December 7 and the medical staff feared the worse.
Bulldogs doctor Gary Zimmerman offered a quick clinical diagnosis, telling Giansiracusa: "Mate, you've torn your ACL."
It was the worst possible news, and it was delivered a fortnight before Giansiracusa's wedding.
Scans revealed Zimmerman was right, but fortunately the tear was at the lower end of the scale.
"Imagine the cruciate as like a piece of rope that's got two bundles to it. It was like the fraying of the rope," Zimmerman said. "The rest of the knee was perfectly OK. No bone bruising. No cartilage injuries."
But Giansiracusa was warned he still might need a reconstruction.
Thoughts of surgery were pushed into the background, particularly with the 25-year-old's wedding and honeymoon looming.
And given Giansiracusa was suffering from only low-grade instability in the knee, both Zimmerman and surgeon David Young hoped the ligament would "scar up" and fix itself.
"We thought we might be able to get away with this without an operation. We hoped and prayed mother nature would do its job," Zimmerman said.
"We reassessed him before he got married and it looked like it was scarring up and David and I were pretty positive.
"He went away on his honeymoon, rested it, and now he's back it's really scarring up nicely."
Giansiracusa will start running in about 10 days and will be carefully eased back into training with the aim of playing practice matches before the season.
"We said to him he'd miss the year if he was to have a reconstruction," Zimmerman said. "But sometimes you can try this. A good analogy is the ankle ligament. We don't reconstruct every ankle ligament injury."
Giansiracusa will have to be cautious for several weeks, but the Dogs are taking heart from the fact it is not completely new for a player to continue without surgery.
Former Bulldog Jose Romero suffered a similar injury and played on without an operation.
Ben Harrison also survived without an operation during his time at Richmond.
"The early signs are looking good. We're confident he's going to be OK, but we know that life's full of risks in this game," Zimmerman said.
"There are enough people who have been through this and thrived at the top level. No one turned and twisted like Jose Romero and he got through his career with it."
"The tissue of some people heals better than others. It may be some of Gia's European blood doing the trick for him."