Ron Santo to have leg amputated

[jpalexa]

I can't even begin to imagine....

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Ron Santo to have leg amputated
December 12, 2001

CHICAGO (AP) -- Ron Santo, once one of baseball's best third basemen, will have his right leg amputated below the knee because of problems caused by diabetes.

The 61-year-old broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs will have two operations. The first was scheduled for Wednesday to remove his right foot and the second was planned for Monday to remove the lower leg.

"The last thing you want to do is lose your leg," Santo said Tuesday on WGN Radio, the Cubs' flagship station. "But you have to do what you have to do. It's very difficult, but I know I'm going to get through this. All I want to do is walk again, play with my grandson, broadcast the Cubs and enjoy my life."

Santo, a diabetic since he was 18, has undergone nine operations in 10 weeks with hopes of correcting a circulatory problem. Doctors determined last week that previous treatments had not been successful.

Santo, a nine-time National League All-Star, has been a Cubs' radio analyst since 1990.

[Goose]

Thats awful. Best wishes to the guy as he goes through this!

[BuzzBuzzard]

Your heart has to go out to him. You also have to wonder if this could have been prevented if Santo had taken better care of himself. I have no idea how diligent he was in treating the disease, but I am under the impression that this type action is required only because the patient does not treat himself correctly.

[Skipper Steve]

What a bummer - - - hopefully, if this is the result of non-treatment or abuse, because of his high profile, it may influence someone else to take care of themself.

[SmedIndy]

This is sad news. Much as I dislike Santo's color commentary, he was a fine player and is a fine man. He definitely should be in the HOF, and hopefully they will wise up and put him there.

[CubFan7125]

Originally posted by SmedIndy
This is sad news. Much as I dislike Santo's color commentary, he was a fine player and is a fine man. He definitely should be in the HOF, and hopefully they will wise up and put him there.

I entirely agree with you as I have made my feelings about Santo's broadcast abilities known in several posts in other threads. However if you ever hear him on talk radio he is very funny and extremely knowledgeable. I know that he raises a lot of money around the Chigagoland area every year for Diabetes and by all accounts is an extremely good person. I feel horrible and am praying for Santo and his family this holiday season.

[hmrsf]

Originally posted by BuzzBuzzard
Your heart has to go out to him. You also have to wonder if this could have been prevented if Santo had taken better care of himself. I have no idea how diligent he was in treating the disease, but I am under the impression that this type action is required only because the patient does not treat himself correctly.

Buzz you are one of my favorite posters but........ you could be dead wrong. Santo has never been one of my patients....I can not speak for him....but for the amputation population, I am very knowlegable. (Happens to be one of my specialties.)

As Buzz has pointed out diabetics who do not follow a proper diet or monitor thier blood sugars are at high risk for amputation.....BUT, diabetics also do not heal well and are at high risk for infection, gagne green, ect.
For example: diabetic Joe decides to cut his toe nails and rips a little too hard and pulls out part of the nail bed.....he washes it clean slaps a bandaide on it and goes about his day. That simple wound could be the underlying reason for the ampt.

To the normal regular poster this sounds horrifying.......I was clapping with glee because he was able to save his knee!!! I can not tell you how patients will lose their life trying to save a foot or save thier life.....but lose the knee still trying to save the foot.

The rehab process is very vigorus......but if a patient is vigulant, in less than 6 months he/she will wake up one day and it will be no more difficult than putting on shoes.

Case and point: patient had a goal of making a September tournament in golf. (ampt in April) In September that same patient sent me a beautiful card with an enclosed picture of him and a trophy! And No, I never cashed the enclosed check for 1/2 the winning take.

[BuzzBuzzard]

Exactly why I am no doctor. Thanks for the more detailed explanation at to why this might have happened. I meant no disrespect.

[hmrsf]

Many illness that sound awful and tragic need a face. I hate that this has happened to anyone (never mind the guy I kicked myself and agonized over not choosing for the draft.)

The best thing that ever happened to amputee population is a Kennedy lost a leg. In a short period of time prosthetics are lighter, cheaper, more functional. What was once experimental,expensive.....noninsurace coverable is commonplace.

Bo Jackson did more to help the arthoplasty (replacement hips....made of porcelin) community than all the great minds in the medical community ever could.

[hmrsf]

Originally posted by BuzzBuzzard
Exactly why I am no doctor. Thanks for the more detailed explanation at to why this might have happened. I meant no disrespect.

I knew you ment no disrespect at all. You just thought out loud what most think.

I hope you did not mind me using you as an example......I knew you could take it!

No medical wiz but figured I'd offer my condolences on his losing his leg below the knees. Sorry to hear when this happens to anybody.

[b-ball-lunachik]

I didn't know too much about him before this draft...he's #60 on the TPR in Total Baseball...reading about him was interesting and I was impressed...

He must have been pretty diligent at some point in his life of controlling his diabetes...he hid it from baseball until he retired, even hitting a grand slam while suffering the onset of a diabetic reaction...and he only missed 23 games from '61-'70...

I'm sorry to hear that he's going to lose his leg ...I wish him the best....

[CubFan7125]

Santo optimistic after first surgery

December 14, 2001

BY TONI GINNETTI STAFF REPORTER

An upbeat and optimistic Ron Santo is looking forward to Christmas with his grandson and spring training with the Cubs, when he expects to be fully recovered and walking with an artificial leg.

''I feel great,'' he said Thursday, a day after surgery to amputate his right foot, which was damaged by diabetic-related circulatory problems. ''I finally got rid of that ugly foot. The operation went dynamite, and I know the second phase will go just fine.''

The popular Cubs broadcaster and former All-Star third baseman will undergo a second procedure Monday at Scottsdale (Ariz.) Health Center Hospital to amputate his leg below the knee, then will be fitted with a prosthesis.

The surgeries became necessary after nine other operations since September failed to improve the deteriorating blood circulation in Santo's leg, the result of 42 years as an insulin-dependent diabetic.

Santo, 61, said he felt more cheerful than he had in months after the physically and mentally draining operations that he and doctors hoped would save his leg.

''Three months ago, I don't think I could have handled [amputation],'' said Santo, who suffered cardiac arrest after one operation last month to remove the toes of the right foot. ''But now, I can't wait to get on with my life. I can't wait to get back on my feet, playing with my grandson and then walking again.

''I was talking to my son, Jeff, last month and said, 'I'm starting to lose my faith in God. Why am I going through so much?' But after this [operation], I realized there is so much attention being brought to JDRF [the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation] that maybe that's the good part. Now my faith is restored.''

Santo, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 18 but went on to be the only known diabetic position player in major-league history, has been an active fund-raiser and spokesman for JDRF for over 25 years. This year, his annual ''Walk For A Cure'' fund-raiser drew 13,000 participants and has raised $3.9 million so far, with pledges still being counted.

Santo will get a temporary prosthesis to wear home after Monday's surgery.

''I can't put any weight on it for a week,'' he said, "then the second week you can put a little weight on it, the third week a little more, and by the fourth week, you're walking. I'll be working with a physical therapist, but the main prosthesis I'll get will be in Chicago. And they say by six months, you're back. I can't wait.''


Give this guy a lot of credit, he is dealing with adversity a whole lot better than I could.

[hmrsf]

Arn't physical therapist grand!!!

[CubFan7125]

December 17, 2001 10:40 PM CST

Cubs broadcaster Ron Santo underwent successful surgery Monday night to amputate the lower portion of his right leg, according to WGN-AM spokeswoman Mary June Rose.

Santo, a diabetic, has had 10 operations in the last three months in hopes of correcting circulatory problems. Recently, he had the toes on his right foot amputated and last week his right foot was amputated. Santo, 61, has said he expects to be recovered sufficiently to return to the radio booth this spring.

Santo missed several games during the 2001 season because of his health problems. However, he had such a desire to return to the booth that he did the final three games of the season shortly after undergoing one of his operations.

Santo, a nine-time National League All-Star third baseman, has been a Cubs radio analyst since 1990. The 2002 season will mark his seventh with partner Pat Hughes.

Copyright 2001 The Chicago Tribune