Breaking: Backes’ health worsens, will undergo major surgery

Awful news for him and the Bruins. All the best to him in his recovery.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Breaking: Backes’ health worsens, will undergo major surgery
Keystone Press

The Boston Bruins simply have no luck this season. After losing several players at the start of the season due to injuries, they now have to do without another veteran forward, whose return will be short-lived.

The team has announced that forward David Backes will undergo surgery to remove a portion of his colon. He could miss up to eight weeks following the procedure. 


Bruins team internist Dr. David Finn has issued the following update on Backes' health:


“David Backes will undergo surgery on Thursday, November 2 to remove a portion of his colon. The expected recovery time is approximately eight weeks. The decision to have surgery was made in consultation with team physicians as well as outside specialists in the management of diverticulitis. David’s episode of diverticulitis at the beginning of the season was his second episode in two months and was complicated with an abscess (collection of infection adjacent to the colon) that required drainage. Repeated episodes, like what David experienced, have a very high likelihood of recurrence in the near term, which is why he was advised to have surgery to remove the area of colon causing the problem. It was determined that attempting to delay the surgery until after the season was an unacceptable risk to his health.
David was cleared to play in the team’s games on October 19 while waiting for his colon to properly heal from the most recent episode of diverticulitis which sidelined him for the first five games of the 2017-18 season. David was at no additional risk while playing during this period, and he is having the surgery as soon as the medical team felt comfortable moving forward with the operation.”

The 33-year-old forward has registered one point (an assist) in his five games this season.

The Bruins recalled forward Jordan Szwarz from Providence after making the announcement on Backes.

Source: Twitter