Creighton recruit to have Open Heart Surgery

[cusportsfan]

Omaha Central basketball player Josh Jones is scheduled to have open heart surgery this morning at the Nebraska Medical Center.

Bacteria has traveled through his bloodstream from his mouth into his heart, the Creighton recruit said from his hospital room on Saturday.

"It's kind of scary," he said. "I'm confident because I want to get better."

Jones said surgery is necessary because the bacteria is causing one of the valves in his heart to leak.

"It makes my heart work more to shoot out the blood," Jones said. "They want to get rid of it before it gets bigger and goes in my vessels and stuff."

The All-Nebraska senior guard, who averaged 18 points last season, said he hasn't felt well for about three weeks. He said he was having high fevers and chills. He finally asked his mom to take him to the emergency room last Saturday.

"I couldn't take it no more," he said. "I was going to school and trying to fight it."

He said he isn't sure how his recovery will affect his preparations for basketball season.

Jones said doctors have told him that the bacteria in his mouth might have entered the bloodstream through a cut in his gums.

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

good luck to him

[outpost]

Issues like this should bring the entire Valley family together. It transcends any attitudes that we as fans may have towards other member schools.

WSU fans went through a similar situation - one that resulted in the abrupt death of recruit Guy Alang this past spring. Guy would have been a freshman on this year's Shocker basketball team.

I wish Josh a complete and rapid recovery.

[iSASO]

Best wishes to this young man from the Shocker Nation.

[Back2BackCats]

Panther Nation also wishes Josh a speedy recovery.

[Dawgbit]

That is some scary stuff, hoping for a full and speedy recovery.

[Mc Bulldog]

How strange is that? I've never heard of such a thing.

Thank the Lord they can fix it. Young, strong kid .. he'll be back on his feet in no time. Best wishes.

[DUBulldog]

Sounds like bacterial endocarditis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacterial_endocarditis) to me.

I wish the young man well.

[redbirdtim]

Redbird Nation sends our thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.

[salukibob]

Not sure about the 'can't take it no more,' but certainly wish the young man the best.

[goaces]

Get well soon, Josh. This Aces fan is already praying for you.

[Carrcar]

Get well soon, Josh. This Aces fan is already praying for you.
Ditto, any report?

[Divergence]

Prayer sent out.

[blueness]

Ditto, any report?

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=3924&u_sid=10130917

Josh Jones knew something was wrong.

The Omaha Central basketball star couldn't shake a fever that had lingered for a week or two. One minute he'd be boiling, the next he'd be freezing. He lacked energy.

"I thought I had the flu," he said.

A trip to the emergency room uncovered a more serious problem. Jones was suffering from bacterial endocarditis, an infection in the lining or the valves of the heart. The infection also can travel through the bloodstream to other organs and tissues, including the brain, lungs or kidneys. It can be fatal if not treated.

A doctor recommended open-heart surgery to repair an infection-damaged valve. For a 17-year-old who had never suffered a basketball injury more serious than a pulled groin muscle, the prospect of having his chest opened up was terrifying.

"I cried," he said.

His mother, Desiree, and other family members prayed during the 5½-hour operation Sunday at the Nebraska Medical Center. When he came out of surgery, Jones no longer could hold in the question that had been racing through his head.

Could he play basketball again?

"When he told me I could," Jones said, "it was a big relief."

Jones said if everything goes well, he could be back on the basketball court in about 12 weeks. He wants to try to help Central win a third straight state title.

Creighton coach Dana Altman and assistant Darian DeVries delivered a second dose of good news when they visited Jones.

"They told me that they had faith and confidence in me," Jones said. "They told me they still wanted me to be a future Bluejay. When they said that, it was kind of like another surgery was over.

"It showed me that I still had them behind me. It made me proud that I had committed early to them. If I hadn't, I probably would be panicking right now."

Jones committed to the Bluejays last spring after earning World-Herald All-Nebraska honors as a Central junior. He averaged almost 18 points a game and shot 45 percent from 3-point range.

All that became secondary when Desiree Jones took her son to the emergency room Saturday. Aware of how much basketball meant to Josh, she also realized the seriousness of the diagnosis.

"I asked him, 'Josh, what if this can't get straightened out?'" she said. "What do you want to do? What are you going to fall back on? Fortunately, everything looks like it's going to come out perfectly."

Doctors moved Josh out of cardiac intensive care Tuesday. "They said I'm recovering faster than normal because I'm young and in pretty good shape," he said.

He expects to remain hospitalized through the week. He's walking the halls six times a day at the Clarkson Tower. He's eating regularly again, and hopes to regain some of the 17 pounds he's lost since being hospitalized.

He's welcoming a steady stream of coaches, classmates and teachers who have visited him since the surgery.

Dr. Kim Duncan, the Medical Center's chief of cardiothoracic surgery, performed the operation in which the aortic valve, the main outlet valve on the left side of the heart, was replaced. He said Jones will need four weeks of antibiotics to clear the infection from his body. In about two weeks, Duncan said, Jones can begin doing some light exercise.

Duncan said there is a slight chance that the infection could return.

"If it does, it could be a major problem," he said. "However, this bacteria is quite sensitive to antibiotics. Right now, there is no evidence of bacteria in Josh's bloodstream or in his heart."

Dr. Kari Simonsen, the Med Center's pediatric disease specialist, said it's a mystery how the bacteria entered Jones' bloodstream. The bacteria escapes into the bloodstream during normal daily activities such as brushing one's teeth, flossing or eating.

"All of us get bacteria in our bloodstream every day, but our bodies are able to handle it and it is usually cleaned out by our immune system," Simonsen said. "It is unknown why the bacteria affected Josh."

Jones still has some pain from the foot-long incision on his chest. He knows it's going to take time until he's 100 percent.

"It kind of upset me that this has happened to me," Jones said. "One of my coaches told me, 'Everything happens for a reason.' This has humbled me. Being as athletic as I was, I never expected to be in the hospital having any kind of surgery.

"When they told me I was having heart surgery, it made me think twice about life and what can happen."

[Carrcar]

Blueness,
Thanks for the update; sounds good. We all think of the kid, his coaches and team mates; remember his family...they often get overlooked.

[Aargh]

Great to hear that Jones is doing so well.

I think CU is leading the nation in unusual injuries. As I recall there was an eye infection, Graves disease and now a condition I can't spell requiring open-heart surgery for a recruit.

[outpost]

.......not to mention one of their coaches getting some sort of 1-, 2-, or 3-day swine-related disease....thankfully Dana pulled through okay.

Sorry....I thought I might be able to add a bit of levity since Jones seems to be on the mend.

[MoValley John]

.......not to mention one of their coaches getting some sort of 1-, 2-, or 3-day swine-related disease....thankfully Dana pulled through okay.

Sorry....I thought I might be able to add a bit of levity since Jones seems to be on the mend.

Swine flu? I hear that's a biatch.

[WSUbballer]

Glad the surgery went well and I hope he has a speedy recovery.