Kyle Lowry Medical Update

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Monday March 26, 2012 12:18 PM

Medical Update

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Jason Friedman
Rockets.com

HOUSTON - For the first time since being diagnosed with a bacterial infection earlier this month, Kyle Lowry was able to join his teammates as they took part in shootaround prior to Monday's game against he Sacramento Kings. Afterward, Lowry met with the media to provide an update on his health status. What follows is the transcript from that interview session.

How does it feel to be back?

KL: It feels great. I miss my teammates like crazy. I miss being around the game, the organization and the franchise, but it’s something I’ve got to deal with.

What’s your current health status?

KL: I’m just doing my antibiotics, going through the system I’ve got to do with my antibiotics until the cycle is over.

What has this been like?

KL: Very scary. It was very scary for awhile. Having a temperature of 104 for a couple of days is not a good feeling. It’s been scary but it’s something that you learn from and have to deal with and do what you’ve got to do to get better.

Were you ever in any real danger?

KL: If I had waited a bit longer I could have been; I could have been in a real bad situation if I had waited a day later to go in.

Do the doctors know how this happened?

KL: No, that’s the crazy part. They don’t have any idea or clue how this situation happened or came about.

What are they telling you about how soon you can get back on the floor?

KL: Well, I’ve got to finish my antibiotics cycle and we’ll go from there.

Do you have a target date at all?

KL: Not at all.

Do you have hope of playing again this year?

KL: I don’t know. Once the antibiotics cycle goes through, we’ll check. I have a picc line in right now so I have to do my antibiotics every day and then we’ll see and go back to see what the doctor says.

How are you feeling right now?

KL: I’m still a little not myself; still kind of weak and lightheaded sometimes and just not myself. But I’m getting better. From where I was a couple weeks ago, I’m much better.

Have you lost weight?

KL: I don’t know. Probably. I’ve been told I’ve lost 15 pounds. I mean, I didn’t eat for like six days.

Has it made you appreciate being able to play?

KL: I mean this is not my first time being hurt for a significant amount of time. When you get hurt you always appreciate what’s been taken from you and what you love to do.

What were you feeling like that night in Toronto?

KL: Terrible, horrible, awful. Not right at all. It was just a bad, bad ordeal for me.

You played in Toronto …

KL: I was sick before the game. Then after the game, I think the guys waited for me for an hour because I was trying to get an IV and they couldn’t do it, and I was cold, shivering, chills – just a tough situation.

Then the next day you get an MRI for the groin injury …

KL: The doctor that did the MRI said you don’t look right, so we’re going to send you to (another) doctor to try to (figure out what’s wrong). So they sent me to the Knicks’ doctor and she had me in the office and my temperature rose from 100 to 103 within an hour. That’s when she was like, ‘It’s time for you get to get admitted. Something’s not right.’

So if you didn’t have the groin issue could this have gone undetected longer?

KL: Yeah, because then I wouldn’t have gotten the MRI.

So the groin issue was actually a blessing in disguise?

KL: Always. Yep, it’s crazy.

So the MRI helped lay the groundwork for finding out what was wrong?

KL: Pretty much. The MRI helped me find out what was really wrong with me; why I was sick and why I felt the way I felt.

Do you feel like you play at some point this year?

KL: Honestly I have no idea. I’m just going to go through my antibiotics cycle, keep being checked out by the doctors every week. I’m getting tired of hospitals right now. But I’m just going to go and check and see how I feel. I’ve still got an issue with my groin and I’ve got to get that situation figured out also.

That’s not healed either?

KL: No.

So what’s it like watching your teammates?

KL: It’s awesome, because I’m so proud of these guys. The way they’ve been playing – Goran and Courtney and Scola, Sam – I’m just proud. But it sucks knowing I’m supposed to be out here watching my teammates.

How long is that cycle of antibiotics supposed to last?

KL: April 7. That’s the date the cycle is supposed to go through but we’ve got to do more blood work and more blood cultures and see what happens after that.

Is there any reason for them to think this won’t end at some point?

KL: I’ll be healthy at some point. We’ll see when that time is but at some point I will be healthy.

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