Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011
Posted 3:13 p.m. Updated 6:49 p.m.
By Aggrey Sam
CSNChicago.com
Instead of enjoying a rare three-day break before games and his selection as an NBA All-Star Game starter Thursday night (first Bulls All-Star starter since Michael Jordan), Bulls point guard Derrick Rose has a bigger issue to deal with.
I have an ulcer, Rose told reporters after Thursdays practice at the Berto Center.
Its real painful for me to eat, drink, swallow, all that stuff. But they gave me some medication for it, explained the 22-year-old, who didnt participate in practice either Wednesday or Thursday. I thought I had heartburn Monday, but I guess thats when it was forming.
Hopefully I will be able to play Friday against the Orlando Magic, he continued. I havent really been able to eat anything, so my energy is kind of low.
Rose, who believes the condition came about from eating too much spicy food, was shocked to learn that his symptoms were more than a simple case of heartburn.
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I couldnt believe it. Actually, I woke up and the doctor wasnt in there. My mother had all these types of pictures of my stomach, showing me where the ulcers were. You could see a nice-sized one and there was a smaller one. It hit me hard, said Rose. It was kind of crazy because at first, I thought that my stomach was hurting or I was coming down with something, but to learn thatmy family was kind of worried, but Ill be all right.
They gave me some pills for heartburn, thinking that it was going to go away, but it didnt. Thats when it really got bad. I couldnt sleep at night. I thought I was having a heart attack. Thats when I called Bulls trainer Fred Tedeschi and Wednesday, thats when I went in, continued Rose, who claimed his back, which he told reporters was bothering him after Mondays game, was fine, although he admitted he didnt know how it would feel when he got back on the court. There was a procedure, anesthesia a numbing spray, then they put this little camera down my throat. I was in the hospital (Rush) the whole day.
Rose insisted his condition wasnt the result of stress.
Were winning. Im doing pretty good right now. I dont have to worry about anything, so stress, Im not worried about that. Now, if last year and the year before that, if I would have gotten one, it probably would have been because of stress, reasoned Rose. If anything, I definitely have to change what I eat.
Thats the thing Im going with, my diet, added the self-proclaimed candy fanatic. Im not eating anything spicy for a long time.
Im going to watch a lot of things that I eat now.
Still, even with the nature of the situation, Rose indicated it wouldnt be an issue on the court.
Youve got to play through it, especially this one. This one is kind of weird. Ive been healthy all my life. For me to have one an injury where Ive got to take medication for it, instead of getting stim electronic stimulation or putting ice on it, its kind of weird. Ive got to watch what I eat and watch what I drink, and thats everything, he said.
We thought it was the flu, but hopefully its not anything serious, said Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau. Well see how he is tomorrow. Hes better today than he was yesterday, so if hes better tomorrow, he goes.
We dont change our plan at all, he continued. If he cant play Friday, C.J. Watson goes, Ronnie Brewer backs him up and we go from there, but we dont change our plans at all.
Teammate Joakim Noah added a dose of humor to the situation.
I dont know how common it is. I dont really know too much about ulcers, but he didnt look too bad, quipped the injured center. Hes doing a photo shoot right now, but it couldnt be too bad.
Aggrey Sam is CSNChicago.com's Bulls Insider. Follow him @CSNBullsInsider on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Bulls information and his take on the team, the NBA and much more.