Spurs' Oberto Undergoes Heart Procedure

[Bruno]

http://www.wftv.com/nba/19692045/detail.html

San Antonio, TX -- (Sports Network) - San Antonio Spurs center Fabricio Oberto underwent a procedure last week to help correct an irregular heartbeat.

Oberto suffered from atrial fibrillation -- a type of abnormal heart rhythm -- during the season and on June 4 underwent a successful ablation procedure to correct the electrical system of the heart.

The Spurs said Oberto will begin a conservative cardiovascular exercise program next week. After four weeks, and with doctor's approval, he can begin more strenuous workouts.

In 54 games this past season, Oberto averaged 2.6 points with 2.6 rebounds. He missed the first two games of the season with an irregular heartbeat and was sidelined for a few games in late March and early April because of the same problem.

[ElNono]

Get well Fabricio...

I think he should call it a day and enjoy his family... but at least he is keeping his condition under tabs...

[DPG21920]

Glad to hear it went well. Hopefully he can get healthy and live a normal healthy life. Prayers go out to Fab.

[Indazone]

He has hypertachardia where his heart races. This is fairly common and gets worse with age. They give you drugs to control it but sometimes, an operation is necessary where they freeze the part of the heart that is causing the irregular heartbeat. Sometimes a pacemakers needs to be installed. Hope that this is not serious and Oberto will make a full recovery and be able to play.

[Spurs Brazil]

Get well soon Fabricio!

[angel_luv]

Prayers for you in your recovery, Fabricio. :)

[Spurs Brazil]

CourtsideGet a first-person look at the Spurs season, at home and away. Want to let us know what you think? Post your comments here.

Oberto goes in for heart work
By Jeff McDonald on Jun 8, 09 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Save & Share Yahoo! BuzzYahoo! Newsvine del.icio.us Facebook Google Reddit Fark
Spurs center Fabricio Oberto underwent a successful ablation procedure to correct the heart arrhythmia he has been intermittently dealing with since April 2007.

Oberto has experienced the condition, called atrial fibrillation, at least three times while with the Spurs. His most recent bout came in March, and caused him to miss two games.

On Thursday, Dr. Andrea Natale performed the ablation on Oberto in Austin in order to correct the heart electrical system malfunction that was causing Oberto's irregular heartbeat.

He is expected to begin a gradual cardiovascular rehabilitation program this week. If all checks out, Oberto is expected to be cleared for strenuous exercise in four weeks.

http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/

[timvp]

Hopefully Oberto is able to live a long and healthy life without having to worry about his heart from now on.

[timvp]

That said, I wonder if the Spurs would be able to remove his whole salary from the books if the doctors don't give him clearance to return. There's no way the Spurs pick up his option but that only accounts for half of his salary.

[Mel_13]

That said, I wonder if the Spurs would be able to remove his whole salary from the books if the doctors don't give him clearance to return. There's no way the Spurs pick up his option but that only accounts for half of his salary.

Probably not.

From Coon's Salary Cap FAQ:

There is one exception whereby a player can continue to receive his salary, but the salary is not included in the team's team salary. This is when a player is forced to retire for medical reasons and a league-appointed physician confirms that he is medically unfit to continue playing. There is a waiting period of one year following the injury or illness before a team can apply for this salary cap relief. If the waiting period expires mid-season (on any date prior to the last day of the regular season), then the player's entire salary for that season is removed from the team's team salary.

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q53

Seems like it would be hard to get around the one year rule since Oberto played in the Dallas series.

[Bruno]

http://twitter.com/obricio7


thanks y'all I'm felling pretty good , I'll be playing again with out worries

It looks like this surgery isn't a career ending thing. :tu

[SenorSpur]

Speedy recovery for Fabalicious.

[lefty]

I hope Oberto will be ok :tu

I think he should retire.

It would be the best thing for his heart ........................ and for the Spurs :D

[EricB]

Fab was playing damn good up until the relapse with the heart.

I've seen worse 12th men in the NBA.

I've got zero qualms about him coming back.

Duncan loves him I know that.

[duncan228]

Health first, then his career. Glad to hear it went well.

[rayray2k8]

Stay well Fab, basketball can wait.

[Indazone]

Yeah, Oberto was playing great until his heart started to have problems. Kudos to Pop and the Spurs for leaving him on the roster. I wondered why Oberto didn't play in the playoffs and now I know why.

[FromWayDowntown]

I'm glad that procedure was seemingly a success for Fab and I wish him a speedy and full recovery.

As for his prospects going forward with the Spurs, I think a team could certainly do worse than Fabricio Oberto as a 5th or 6th big man. He's a steady, even if he's a mediocre numbers guy, but he won't make mistakes that kill your team, he's a very good passer as big men go, and he's got incredible savvy for a guy who might be a spot player. He's not the big enforcer type that the Spurs had with Kevin Willis or Tony Massenburg, but he's capable of being more productive than a Massenburg was and I think he's the sort of guy who could reasonably step in here and there as necessary as Willis did in 2002-03 to fill minutes when David Robinson was out. The Spurs have won titles with worse big men occupying the end of the bench.

[BadOne]

I'm glad Fabby's doing well. For his own sake though, he really shouldn't expect to play anymore minutes than he did this season.

He's got his ring and a Gold and bronze Olympic medal. He's really got nothing to prove. If he simply just wants to play, then there's always the Austin Toros. LOL. [j/k]

Stay healthy Fabby.

[tlongII]

LaMarcus Aldridge had the same procedure done after his rookie year. It's no big deal. I actually have the same condition myself.

[timtonymanu]

Stay healthy Fab!

Honestly watching Bonner start all year, I realized i took Fab for granted. He certainly has been a productive player for the Spurs and was key to the 07 championship. It would suck to see him retire at a pretty YOUNG age but his health is more important. I think he already made a name for himself here. A jersey retirement? No. The respect of San Antonio? Yes.

[SouthTexasRancher]

Wishing you a speedy recovery, Fab. Give some very serious thought to retiring. You've won it all and it is time to put you and your family ahead of basketball. Maybe hire on as an assistant coach with Argentina. :toast

[Admiral]

I am glad Oberto's procedure went well. Atrial fibrillation is not that uncommon, and given his successful procedure there is no reason why he would have his playing career shortened in any way. Here's to a speedy recovery and a quick return to the court! :)

[Udokafan05]

I dont think the spurs would pull a dirty move like the knicks did with cuttino mobley to save money.

[duncan228]

Spurs' Oberto optimistic after heart procedure (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_Oberto_optimistic_after_heart_procedure.html )
Jeff McDonald

Spurs center Fabricio Oberto wasn’t asking for much. All he wanted was to be able to play the game he loved without his heart going haywire.

Thanks to a simple procedure, Oberto might have gotten his wish.

Oberto is recovering at home after undergoing an ablation procedure Thursday meant to permanently correct a recurring irregular heartbeat.

“I want to keep playing without worrying,” Oberto said Monday. “That’s what’s great to me. I get to have a normal life.”

Oberto, 34, has suffered three bouts of the arrhythmia, called atrial fibrillation, since April 2007, with the most recent episode coming during a practice in March. The condition caused a butterfly feeling in his chest.

Each time, he would visit the Spurs medical staff, which would perform a procedure to electroshock his heart back into time. Typically, he would miss one or two games while doctors continued to monitor him.

After the most recent episode, team doctors referred Oberto to Dr. Andrea Natale, renowned in the field of atrial fibrillation and cardiac arrhythmia.

Natale talked to Oberto about ablation, a non-invasive procedure that might repair his heart’s electric circuitry for good. Natale told Oberto the procedure was 85 percent effective.

“When I talked to him, he told me this would be the solution,” Oberto said.

Natale performed the procedure Thursday morning in Austin. By lunchtime Friday, Oberto had been discharged from the hospital.

By Monday, Oberto was back in San Antonio making final preparations for a homecoming trip to Argentina.

Oberto is scheduled to begin a gradual cardiovascular rehabilitation next week. If all goes well, he should be cleared to resume strenuous exercise in four weeks.

For Oberto, a normal life could be just around the corner.

“Dr. Natale told me it was just like every other time he did this procedure,” Oberto said. “There shouldn’t be any problems.”

[crc21209]

Shit I said it all last year, Fab > Bonner. Fab just knows the system very well and has a knack for the game. He plays excellent D, and plays the high/low really well with TD.