Athletes And Weight Maintenance
As he watched the Dodgers play the Philadelphia Phillies on TV recently, Brett Butler spoke about what he must to do to realize his goal of rejoining his teammates late this season. One of the first things on Butler's list: fast weight gain more than 10 pounds. His pants are sagging now, boys, informed Butler, who joked and sounded positive during a 10-minute conference call with reporters from his home in Duluth, Ga., during the Dodgers' 3-2 victory in 11 innings.
Butler, who received word that his cancer apparently has not spread beyond a plum-sized tumor found in his right tonsil May 3 and one of 50 lymph nodes removed during a follow-up procedure May 2, said he has lost 11 or 12 pounds since undergoing the tonsillectomy. He needs as much strength as possible before beginning six weeks of radiation treatments tentatively scheduled to start June 10. Though doctors say they believe they have removed all the cancer which has been described as a very aggressive type of cancer from Butler's body, they want to ensure that there are no remaining microorganisms that could develop into the fast-growing squamous cell carcinoma they detected in his throat. Butler has been told he has a 70 percent chance of survival.
He said he was told his chances of survival would only be 15 percent if the cancer returned after radiation treatments. Could it come back? "Sure, but I'm not going to sit around and wait for it to come back. If this cancer is there, this is an aggressive-type cancer." The tumor in Butler's tonsil tripled in size in about six weeks. The cancerous lymph node almost doubled in size in eight days, Butler said. Still, it's possible Butler's treatments will be delayed until June 17, not-so-coincidentally the day after the
Dodgers complete a four-game series in Atlanta.
Whether or not Butler is undergoing his treatment, he plans on attending the Dodgers-Braves series. And he reiterated that he fully intends to rejoin the Dodgers in September. If he begins the treatment June 10, he could be done July 19, giving him about 10 weeks to rehabilitate. Different people react differently to radiation, informed Butler, whose voice is almost completely normal. "I can lose my saliva glands indefinitely. I've never seen a ballplayer who couldn't spit." Butler had the remaining 18 staples used to close the incision made in his throat and shoulder removed Wednesday. He said his uvula _ the small fleshy mass in the top of the throat - is twisted off to the left but should return to normal soon. He also said he
is having problems swallowing because of a sore soft palate; when he drinks water, for example, he sometimes loses some through his nose. Butler said the outside of his neck is still very sore and he cannot so much as swim yet, but he is already devising a workout schedule and doing research on different types of nutritious diets. He knows 10 weeks might not be enough time to get back in playing shape, but he made it clear that alone won't stop him from wearing his uniform again this season.
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