Kurt Angle's "alternative" 6-week neck surgery

[Guest RollingSambos]

I hope Kurt knows what he is doing, it would be tragic if his brilliant career was cut short because of quack surgery. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but if I was Kurt, I would go with the established neck surgery and take the year off. It's better to lose 12 months than the rest of your career...and can you imagine how over he'd be when he finally came back?

[Guest ManKinnd]

I don't know anything about the surgery, but if it works, then we have Kurt back in 1.5 months, which is just FINE with me. Just gotta stay optimistic.

[Guest RollingSambos]

I know that Scotch Hall raves about it, but let's face it...he wasn't exactly taking and delivering rolling Germans every night.

[Guest CanadianChick]

I agree, I'm pretty nervous to. But I guess if another wrestler has taken it and is fine after...

 

But if this does work, how would Edge and every other guy/gal coming back from that surgery feel. Damn, that would suck to know that all you had to be out for was 6 weeks.

[The Dames 0]

I'm quite nervous about it. The neck is not something you should take lightly and if this was a legitimate quick fix, Austin, Edge, Rhyno and Benoit would have taken this option instead. I hope and pray that this doesn't end up like Ultimo Dragon's elbow surgery.

 

Even if the surgery is successful, there's a greater chance that he'll suffer more neck damage in the ring if his neck isn't given the proper time to heal or the proper rehab.

 

Dames

[Guest Choken One]

However, you got to look at Austin who took this normal surgery and is STILL having problems with it...

 

I am slightly concerned...

[Guest nikowwf]

The new surgery seems less evasive, so if it works it should provide an easier healing process, and less strain on the neck. The other process is pretty severe, fusing bones on your neck/spine into place.

 

Remember, every process is NEW and UNKNOWN until a few people do it, then its routine. Remember the first Tommy John surgery? (for Tommy John, haha) No one thought he could possible come back or that it would work at all. Now pitchers have it done a lot in the same situation.

 

niko

[Guest El Satanico]

Well there's no way WWe would let him do it if the doctor doesn't check out. I'm sure they're talking to everyone who's ever worked with the doctor and to everyone who's had the surgery to make sure everything check out.

 

I don't see any reason to be worried about the alternative anymore than the "normal option". If the 40 people who's had this new surgery done support the doctor and the procedure, then i see no reason for Angle to not do it if he's comfortable with it.

[Guest BDC]

Oh, what are we worried about? He took care of Scott Hall and he can tip his head back with the best of 'em.

 

[Guest Slapnuts00]

Anybody else thinking...

Hi everybody!

"Hi Doctor Nick!"

Ok, Kurt the spine is connected to the neck bone, the neck bone's connected to my wristwatch...whoops.

[Guest CanadianChris]

However, you got to look at Austin who took this normal surgery and is STILL having problems with it...

 

I am slightly concerned...

Austin's a special case, though...the rest of them just had normal (well, not really, but you know what I mean) wear and tear on the neck, whereas Austin's problems stem mainly from OwenDriver '97 and rushing himself back to keep the plans for him somewhat intact.

 

Personally, I'm not that worried...I don't think Kurt would be going through with this if he thought he could get into serious trouble as a result, especially with him being a new father.

[Guest Steviekick]

Dr. Jho's surgery does not involve as heavy reconstruction of the neck. God forbid he ever has to have this surgery redone, the Jho way is much easier to correct since less of the spinal column is altered as opposed to fusing the vertebrae. I'm sure the WWE and Angle are checking Jho out, as to his credentials and stuff.

[Guest RollingSambos]

Dr. Jho's Innovative Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery for Spine and Brain Disorders

[Guest mickberna]

Anybody else thinking...

Hi everybody!

"Hi Doctor Nick!"

DR. NICK: "Kurt, you have bonus-eruptus... it's a terrible disorder where the skelteon tries to leap through the mouth and escape the body."

 

ANGLE: "Now you're talkin'!"

[Guest Crux]

Im very worried...it just seems way too soon for him to come back, imo. But then again, Im not a doctor. It was Kurt's decision and I dont think he would take something like this lightly.

[Guest creativename]

I can only hope that Kurt has researched this very thoroughly, and arrived at the decision rationally. We don't really have enough information to know what he should do, but I am confident that Kurt will try and do what's best for him here. If he really can come back after 2 months and be healthy, then that's truly wonderful.

 

Before I heard this, I was seriously considering quitting watching wrestling altogether. With Angle and Rock leaving; Benoit, Eddie, RVD and Booker being stuck in the mid-card; and Matt Hardy, Rey Mysterio and Hurricane being also-rans with half-hearted pushes, the only reason I would've had to watch wrestling would have been to see Jericho lose every single fucking match.

 

With Kurt coming back, I'll keep watching for sure.

[Guest papacita]

Even if it's legit, 2 months is still a little soon IMO. Even if it's successful, there's no need to rush him back in there when his life is at stake.

[Guest El Satanico]

Well WWe won't let him return until him and his neck is physically ready so no need to worry about him returning too soon.

[Guest Memoirs of an Invisible Chevy]

He's obviously done his research. This doctor obviously knows what he is doing. So I am not nervous at all. I'm glad be is going to be back so quickly. The WWE would drown in their own shit without him. bah.

[Guest The Hamburglar]

From what I've read, it seems that this new process makes a hell of a lot more sense than the fusion process, which from what I gather would merely lead to even more neck problems in the long run.

[Guest XdojimeX]

Chris Lening had an excellent post on tOA (that was promptly no-sold) researching the two surgeries. If I read it correctly the basic difference between this and fusion is only parts of the herniated disc are removed to releave the nerve damage, and the rest of the disc is properly re-adjusted. Thus no extra bone to have to wait a year to fuse on the DL. Of course how this ultimately fixes the problem of the damaged disc is the big question. Here's the main quote from his post...

 

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"The first thing that confused me was why this wouldn't weaken a patient. Obviously this is the party line, but the claim is that the bone loss is minimal (less than a square centimeter of territory is lost at the most, plus the bone loss caused from the original chipping), so the overall structure remains intact. The absolute structural concerns are unknown, really: there's no long-term study, since this is relatively new and pretty fringe, and the only known example of a patient in wrestling fell off his peak for other reasons anyhow.

 

The second thing is, if this is the easy way out, why isn't everyone running to go do this? The quick answer goes back to the lack of proper study: there's no absolute guarantee. Even Jho at one point admitted the most effective way to go was fusion; he'll only take a certain group of people to begin with, and not all of them are thrilled with the results. Some people have had pain develop that didn't fade for a period of months, some people have required a second surgery, a fusion, I'd imagine, to get the thing done right. Some people are totally happy with it, though, including Hall. Still, the neck is a touchy area, and it moves more than the vertebrae of the torso. Someone had another type of minimally invasive procedure and said it made their vertebrae seem unstable, and that they ended up tensing up their neck muscles really bad, just to keep it protected. Essentially, the cervical spine is just more prone to weird stuff happening than the lumbar, the thoracic or that pesky sacrum."

 

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Read the whole thing here,

http://www.otherarena.com/cgi/post.cgi?91608&1&4&wwe

 

I dunno, seems like a gamble from this information. The track record is practically nil (Hall?) compared to a full WWE schedule for a bump freak like Angle. Youngblood told him his neck is the second worst he's seen behind Austin. Forget German Suplexes, just the shear wear and tear of the constant rope running and flat back bumps they do in WWE wears out their workers as it is. As I understand it you're still able to get the fusion done if this type of surgery fails but would Angle risk further damage or possibly worse putting all his faith into this procedure?

 

Here's hoping it works out for him in the end.