Leander in Hospital - discharged, fine and now in India!

Post by **jayakris** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 4:48 am

He is at the MD Anderson Cancer center, according to the AP report. The hospital spokesman said that he is alert and speaking. Further tests underway.

I only saw it through news just now..

I am numb right now. Let us pray that it is not as bad as it sounds.

Jay

Post by **jayakris** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 5:54 am

Here is the press release from the MD Anderson Cancer center.

http://www.mdandersonorlando.org/about/ ... cfm?ID=185

The family is on the way from India. Dr.Paes is quoted in there.

A brain lesion at this age is not good news, I suppose. As Dr. Vece Paes says, let's pray that it is not cancerous.

Jay

kathiresan_v · Post by **kathiresan_v** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 7:21 am

Leander ..we r with uuuuuu? May god give you ample strength to wake up..wake up bravely man.....

Let the pray extend all around the world for a speedy recovery. Lee...we are your admirers all with u.

Have any one read this (someone Satyendra Desai's message in rediff) the link is
http://mboard.rediff.com/board/board.ph ... 1804127525

...and would anyone able to understand.....

Kathir

Florian Buechting · Post by **Florian Buechting** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 8:54 am

I am just completely shocked! Lee, we are all with you!

Florian Buechting · Post by **Florian Buechting** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:48 am

Sounds at least a bit better, from

http://www.rediff.com/sports/2003/aug/20paes1.htm

Indian tennis ace Leander Paes, who is being treated for a brain lesion at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, is now feeling much better.

Paes complained of severe headaches, dizzy spells and visual disturbances while playing the Toronto Open.

As a precautionary measure, he was asked to get a full medical check-up. After an initial brain CT scan and MRI, Paes was told he has a lesion in the left occipital region of the brain.

His elder sister Jackie, speaking exclusively to rediff.com, said nothing has been confirmed as yet.

"The symptoms have subsided and Leander is feeling much better," she added.

As of now, the 30 year old is under observation by a team of doctors led by Dr Anthony Scarcella (the co-coordinating doctor), Dr Mian Razak (the brain neuro-surgeon) and Dr Brown.

Leander is fully conscious and has been communicating with his friends and family since Tuesday.

As a result of the diagnosis, he will not play any tennis till mid-September and miss both the US Open and Davis Cup tie against The Netherlands.

Dr Vece Paes, Leander's father, will leave for the United States today. He will meet the doctors in Orlando to get an accurate analysis of his son's condition.

Bad luck again for Daviscup, but this is not important anymore. Lee, hope you will be well soon!

nkoth · Post by **nkoth** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 10:37 am

Yikes, this is terrible news -- our prayers and thoughts go out to Lee and the whole Paes clan.

I'm presuming he's either had a biopsy in the last day, or will get one soon -- which means we should know more soon.

vishnureddy · Post by **vishnureddy** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 10:43 am

Hope and pray you recover soon , Lee

Rishav · Post by **Rishav** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 1:05 pm

hi guys,
i heard a news report saying that he will miss the us open but will be ready to play after this year maybe. Is this true? Also, Lee, your most loyal fan here wishes u the best of luck for a speedy recovery!

sbasu · Post by **sbasu** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 3:08 pm

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Paes family. Get well soon Leander!

ajay · Post by **ajay** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 3:22 pm

Leander,
All your fans are praying for you. We'll be with you either you are fightin on the court or off the court. Its Ad out, but knowing how great a fighter you are, I'm hopeful you will hold on.
Get well soon.
Ajay

Post by **jayakris** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 3:26 pm

Rishav: Tests are underway to determine what the lesion is. A "lesion" is simply an area of abnormal tissue change in any body organ. It could be anything, and not necessarily a tumor. If it really is a tumor, it can be "benign" or "malign". It need not be cancerous, and what treatment will work depends on what exactly the lesion is [at least that is what my layman knowledge is. The doctor friends at this forum will chime in with more later I am sure]

We are all worried mainly because he was moved from the place he checked into, to the MD Anderson cancer center in Orlando (a first affiliate of the world-famous Univ ov Texas MD Anderson cancer center). That doesn't mean he has cancer or anything like that. Just testing for things to make sure.

In any event, he will not be playing several weeks from now on. Hopefully that is all there is, and it will all work out with God's help.

Don't put any stock in any rumors about when he will or won't return to playing. Let us wait for the doctors to say more.

Jay

BSharma · Post by **BSharma** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 6:26 pm

Leander, we will pray for your full recovery. Our thoughts are with you, your family and friends.

Post by **jayakris** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:13 pm

The latest is as I wrote in my news updates. The doctors say that they are inclined to believe that it is an abscess (collection of fluid/pus) rather than a tumor but till the test results are out, they can't rule out a tumor. BBS (our resident forum doctor) tells me that abscesses can be distinguished from the CT or MRI scans, but when it is as small as it is in LP's case, you have to figure out what caused it (there are some infections that can cause it). So, now that the doctors are saying it could be an abscess, they may have seen less of tumor chance in the scans and should be waiting to confirm because it is small which I suppose is rarer for abscesses. Anyway, that is just my layman read of the issuem and at least for now, I am trying to stay positive trying to believe that is the case.

I have sent flowers on all our behalf to Lee. He will get it with a card that says, "It is just a break point that we know you will save!"

Jay

nkoth · Post by **nkoth** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:32 pm

Hmm, I guess the fact that he's feeling better (that is, his headache has gone away) is a good sign -- it would point more toward this being an abscess. I'm sure all they've done so far is to get cultures, administer antibiotics, and do the proper radiologic imaging... Perhaps the antibiotics are treating things appropriately?

On the negative side, though, yes -- this is exceedingly small for an abscess (which don't usually get diagnosed until it's larger in size.) In addition, the location in the occipital lobe is not at all common as a site of presentation for abscesses... mainly because bacteria like to migrate from places like the ears, sinuses, oral cavity, etc directly to the nearest brain site... the occipital lobe is in the back of the skull and therefore harder to get it... though if this is a non-bacterial abscess (or a blood-borne bacteria) then the occipital lobe is feasible... though rare.

In any event, we still need to wait for a definitive surgical biopsy (or drainage depending on what this is!) to know for sure...

I tried to make this less technical, but I apologize if it isn't!
-neil

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