ThunderGirl
09-09-2007, 05:35 PM
Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez playing on Sunday quietly became the comeback story of his life.
In an exclusive interview with FOX Sports Gonzalez revealed for the first time that this off-season he suffered a case of Bell's Palsy, a stroke-like virus. Unfortunately, that wasn't even the biggest scare of his career, nor his life.
"It happened in May," Gonzalez said. "I was sitting at home when I lost all the feeling in my tongue, my face and I got this terrible pain in the back of my head. Then it started getting worse, like someone was sticking a knife down my neck and in my traps muscle. I knew something was very wrong. Actually, I thought I was having a stroke."
Trying to remain calm, Gonzalez was rushed to the hospital with his son Nikko, then-fiancé and now-wife Toby and brother Chris in tow.
"Man, it scared the crap out of me," Gonzalez said. "How would you feel if all the sudden your face goes dead, you can't blink and you can't feel your tongue? I had this burning in my neck. It was bad."
At the hospital, it actually got even worse as doctors informed him he'd either had a stroke, a brain aneurysm or spinal meningitis.
"When I heard those three I started freaking out a bit," Gonzalez said. "Then the doctor said, 'Well, it could also be this thing called Bell's Palsy but we don't think so.' They had to strap me to this gurney and transport me to a hospital across town for a brain scan. I gave my little boy a hug and I almost started crying. I said to myself, 'I guess football is done.' "
Thankfully, the All-Pro tight end was, in fact, suffering from Bell's Palsy, which is treatable.
"They told me I couldn't play if the symptoms persisted but about a month into it I started to fully recover," Gonzalez said. "People usually come out of it with antibiotics and treatment, I used a lot of acupuncture with antibiotics. But some people it stays with them and they also told me in some cases you could die."
Gonzalez, fortunately, recovered but his nightmare didn't end there. Shortly before training camp he went to give blood to make sure everything checked out fine.
It didn't.
"I went to the stadium and the trainer Dave Price said I needed to come see him immediately," he recalled. "I went in his office and he had this look on his face that said something isn't good.
"I asked him what was wrong and all he would say is, 'Tony, it's not good but I don't want to say anything. You need to get to the hospital immediately to take another blood test. You need to go right now!'
"I kept asking him to tell me and all he would say is, 'It's bad.' "
Gonzalez got to the hospital but was kept in the dark. In fact, the nurse at hospital told Gonzalez it was very bad too but also wouldn't reveal what the issue was.
"I finally talked to our team doctor who told me my white blood cell count was very low and basically, if it all checked out I would need an emergency blood transfusion," Gonzalez recalled.
Gonzalez asked the doctor what that meant for football. The answer shocked him. He had a lot more to worry about than football. He needed to worry about his life.
"I just started to cry," Gonzalez said. "I was getting married this off-season, I have this great son. I wasn't ready to go. I was basically told I was fighting for my life."
Gonzalez left the hospital but was told to stick close by in case a transfusion was necessary. A few hours later his rollercoaster ride took one final crazy twist. Somebody got the wrong blood!
"Doc told me somebody out there was very sick but thank God it wasn't me," he recalled. "Imagine hearing that? Thank God the doc re-checked me.
"How crazy is that? Basically, I got to see what it would be like if I was going to die. It's completely changed my life. I really looked inside myself, into life, so many things. I do a lot of charity work with hospitals, it's really given me a completely different view of things."
Taking the field on Sunday, couldn't come fast enough for Gonzalez. Actually, he's just happy to be alive.
"I haven't won a Super Bowl but after the doc told me I was OK, I probably felt even better than that!"
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7207460
In an exclusive interview with FOX Sports Gonzalez revealed for the first time that this off-season he suffered a case of Bell's Palsy, a stroke-like virus. Unfortunately, that wasn't even the biggest scare of his career, nor his life.
"It happened in May," Gonzalez said. "I was sitting at home when I lost all the feeling in my tongue, my face and I got this terrible pain in the back of my head. Then it started getting worse, like someone was sticking a knife down my neck and in my traps muscle. I knew something was very wrong. Actually, I thought I was having a stroke."
Trying to remain calm, Gonzalez was rushed to the hospital with his son Nikko, then-fiancé and now-wife Toby and brother Chris in tow.
"Man, it scared the crap out of me," Gonzalez said. "How would you feel if all the sudden your face goes dead, you can't blink and you can't feel your tongue? I had this burning in my neck. It was bad."
At the hospital, it actually got even worse as doctors informed him he'd either had a stroke, a brain aneurysm or spinal meningitis.
"When I heard those three I started freaking out a bit," Gonzalez said. "Then the doctor said, 'Well, it could also be this thing called Bell's Palsy but we don't think so.' They had to strap me to this gurney and transport me to a hospital across town for a brain scan. I gave my little boy a hug and I almost started crying. I said to myself, 'I guess football is done.' "
Thankfully, the All-Pro tight end was, in fact, suffering from Bell's Palsy, which is treatable.
"They told me I couldn't play if the symptoms persisted but about a month into it I started to fully recover," Gonzalez said. "People usually come out of it with antibiotics and treatment, I used a lot of acupuncture with antibiotics. But some people it stays with them and they also told me in some cases you could die."
Gonzalez, fortunately, recovered but his nightmare didn't end there. Shortly before training camp he went to give blood to make sure everything checked out fine.
It didn't.
"I went to the stadium and the trainer Dave Price said I needed to come see him immediately," he recalled. "I went in his office and he had this look on his face that said something isn't good.
"I asked him what was wrong and all he would say is, 'Tony, it's not good but I don't want to say anything. You need to get to the hospital immediately to take another blood test. You need to go right now!'
"I kept asking him to tell me and all he would say is, 'It's bad.' "
Gonzalez got to the hospital but was kept in the dark. In fact, the nurse at hospital told Gonzalez it was very bad too but also wouldn't reveal what the issue was.
"I finally talked to our team doctor who told me my white blood cell count was very low and basically, if it all checked out I would need an emergency blood transfusion," Gonzalez recalled.
Gonzalez asked the doctor what that meant for football. The answer shocked him. He had a lot more to worry about than football. He needed to worry about his life.
"I just started to cry," Gonzalez said. "I was getting married this off-season, I have this great son. I wasn't ready to go. I was basically told I was fighting for my life."
Gonzalez left the hospital but was told to stick close by in case a transfusion was necessary. A few hours later his rollercoaster ride took one final crazy twist. Somebody got the wrong blood!
"Doc told me somebody out there was very sick but thank God it wasn't me," he recalled. "Imagine hearing that? Thank God the doc re-checked me.
"How crazy is that? Basically, I got to see what it would be like if I was going to die. It's completely changed my life. I really looked inside myself, into life, so many things. I do a lot of charity work with hospitals, it's really given me a completely different view of things."
Taking the field on Sunday, couldn't come fast enough for Gonzalez. Actually, he's just happy to be alive.
"I haven't won a Super Bowl but after the doc told me I was OK, I probably felt even better than that!"
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7207460