Baldelli beat rare but treatable Lyme disease
By BRIAN LANDMAN and MARC TOPKIN
Published July 10, 2005

Rocco Baldelli didn't know much about Lyme disease until it hit home.

Baldelli, the Devil Rays star outfielder, tested positive for it in high school and missed the state baseball championship.

"It was a pretty rough experience," he said Saturday.

Lyme disease, named in 1977 after children in Lyme, Conn., inexplicably showed signs of arthritis, is caused by the bite of a tick carrying a rare bacterium.

Baldelli said he was so fatigued he felt as if he were on prescription medication. He would lay on his couch and doze all day. He tested positive for mononucleosis and a strain of meningitis. But he also had a red mark on his right leg - an insect bite - and tested positive for Lyme.

"It very well could have been Lyme disease because I was always in my back yard, out in the woods and stuff," he said.

Infection is most common in the late spring and early summer; ticks are more active and people are outdoors more. (It can't be passed from person to person). It usually takes 7-14 days for symptoms to appear. They often include a red, slowly expanding "bull's-eye rash," tiredness, fever and joint pain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If untreated, patients may develop arthritis and neurological abnormalities such as facial palsy and inflammation of the brain. In rare cases, Lyme disease has led to heart problems, such as inflammation of tissues around the organ.

There were 23,763 reported cases in the United States in 2002, according to CDC data. Most were in upstate New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and, Baldelli's home state, Rhode Island. Just 79 cases were reported in Florida. But the CDC says the disease is "greatly underreported."

It's also misunderstood ... until it hits home.

"It was over a month before I even started to feel better," Baldelli said. "I honestly didn't do one thing for a whole month. I sat in my house. I didn't really feel better until the end of the summer."

I posted it in general where I believe it should be......

So how come the "cured" Baldelli isn't playing center this year???

He's on the DL......zman

quote:

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Originally posted by lymie tony z:
This should'nt be here......

I posted it in general where I believe it should be......

So how come the "cured" Baldelli isn't playing center this year???

He's on the DL......zman

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????????????

Medical Questions=
Medical questions and information related to Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.

General Support=
General support and discussion for Lyme disease patients.

?????????????

Hmmmmmm?

I hope someone makes the connection and gets him to a LLMD, at least...wouldn't you all think...or do you believe he really did beat "this rare but treatable Lyme disease"?
Mmmm...mmmm...mmmmmmmm!

I'm not a doctor but...IMO...
someone (hey, maybe the doctors????) need to connect the dots here...poor kid
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Rays' wait for Baldelli extends to 2006
While rehabbing his knee, the centerfielder tears an elbow ligament and will have Tommy John surgery.
By TOM JONES, Times Staff Writer
Published June 16, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - The Devil Rays had begun counting the days until star centerfielder Rocco Baldelli made his long-awaited return from a freak knee injury suffered in October.

After months of grueling rehabilitation while the Rays limped through another losing season, Baldelli was set to head to the minors next week and return July14, the day after the All-Star break.

But in a cruel twist, Baldelli's season is over before it started.

Baldelli's season has been shelved not because of his knee, but an injury to his throwing elbow. The 23-year-old tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow while working out and will undergo Tommy John surgery.

He is expected to be out eight to nine months, and the hope is he will be ready for spring training in March. The surgery, in which a tendon from Baldelli's wrist will be removed and inserted as a ligament in his elbow, will be performed probably by noted orthopedic surgeon James Andrews when Baldelli is ready, likely next week.

"Oh, it's terrible," Rays manager Lou Piniella said. "We all feel for him. He's a wonderful kid, a wonderful person. It's just a tragedy, but what can you do? Let's hope he gets all his injuries out of the way in one season and has a long, long wonderful career."

Baldelli injured the arm on a throw June7 during drills in extended spring training. He knew something was wrong but played another three games hoping the arm would feel better. It never did.

"Obviously, it's disappointing," Baldelli said.

"But I'm not going to take any time and feel bad for myself. I'm just going to rehab this injury and get better."

But an extended rehabilitation comes on the heels of the long rehabilitation for his knee.

"It's tough," Baldelli said. "I had days when I showed up and that I just didn't want to be there. It kind of burns you out. You just get tired of doing the same thing, the same boring stuff every day. I'm sure I'm going to get that again, but you know what? This is my job, and this is what I have to do."

Baldelli said he and the Rays considered postponing the surgery until after the season so Baldelli could be a designated hitter for the second half. But the decision to have surgery now was made so he could be 100 percent for next season.

After being selected sixth overall in 2000, Baldelli soared through the minors and was in the Rays' opening day lineup in 2003.

Through two impressive seasons, Baldelli, along with leftfielder Carl Crawford, had become the face of the Rays' youth movement and hope for the future.

"His injuries have been a huge blow to the organization all year," Rays general manager Chuck LaMar said. "If truth were known, out of all the young players, he sort of sets the tone for this organization.

"He's not a complainer. He's not a whiner. He's a winner. The fans of Tampa Bay know that and will get to see that in the future. It's just a shame for him and for us that he misses the year."

On Oct.24, Baldelli tore the ACL in his left knee while playing baseball with his little brother, Dante, in the back yard of his home in Cumberland, R.I. He underwent surgery Nov.5.

"We were looking forward to getting him back," Crawford said. "But things like this happen, and we've got to move forward."

While it's rare for a nonpitcher to have Tommy John surgery, it is not unprecedented.

Tampa native Luis Gonzalez of the Diamondbacks underwent the surgery Aug.2. He was ready for the start of this season.

"Given Rocco's age and physical condition, he should come through okay," said Rays team doctor Koco Eaton, who said the surgery has an "85 to 95 percent success" rate.

"It's just a shame what has happened," LaMar said. "It's a setback for him and the organization, but the big thing is to get it corrected, get him healthy and get his career back on the fast track.

"He's just going to be an outstanding player in this league."

Unfortunately for the Rays, not this season.