Sports Medicine on Tap

Episode 148: Bladder Cancer Awareness: Why "Invincible" Athletes Aren't Immune by Steven Frey

We welcome back our new regular, Nicholas Bertha, MD! We discuss some of the most impactful players in baseball, who are yet to see the field in 2026. Topics include thoracic outlet syndrome (Zack Wheeler), UCL recovery (Gerrit Cole, Joe Musgrove) as well as some guys who already need some early season recovery - hip injury (Justin Verlander) in addition to a variety of other injuries!

Two time NBA All-Star, recently acquired by the Utah Jazz, will miss the remainder of this season due to surgery on his knee to treat Pigmented Villonodular Synovitis (say what?!?....come again?). In addition to doing another Olympic update, we explain what PVNS is and if it will be a problem for Jaren Jackson Jr. Does he really need to miss the rest of this season? Are there other factors at play in that decision making? Will this impact his career? All this and a very cool update from our producer, Kyle Miller, owner of Timber Reel Productions with the upcoming release of a life goal passion project!

Who better to sit down with, to talk about the upcoming super bowl, than a former Super bowl champion!! We have a great show with Gino Gradkowski, who is a former NFL center and was part of the Baltimore Ravens 2012 Super Bowl championship team! We delve into his seven year NFL career and what it was like winning the Super Bowl. We discuss the lead up to the big game and also what it is like to traded to another organization, especially on April 1st! We learn what it is like to play against your brother, Bruce Gradkowski, in an NFL game and what it is like to grow up in Pittsburgh but get drafted by the Ravens, especially when your brother is playing for Pittsburgh! We make our Super Bowl predicitons and, of course, there was no way to not talk about Lindsey Vonn, and the miracle she is trying to pull off!

We welcome urologist, Dr. Jayram Krishnan, to our show to discuss the important topic of testicular cancer. Hear the amazing story of Denver Bronco linebacker, Alex Singleton. Learn how he was diagnosed and the importance of awareness and self exams within the young, athletic population, those whom are most at risk. How did he only miss one game!?! We also touch on TJ Watt and what to expect from the pneumothorax which currently has him sidelined. Will he be back for this all important, playoff deciding, upcoming game with the Ravens?

In this episode, we were honored to welcome the 16th President of the National Athletic Trainers' Association, A.J. Duffy, III, MS, ATC, PT BIO. Duffy has an incredibly accomplished career including 34 years as head athletic trainer and physical therapist for Widener University. His accolades are too many to list! Through Duffy's career we gain insight into the evolution of the profession, career pearls, and the future directions of Athletic Training.

Slightly delayed, but this a very interesting episode on open ankle fracture dislocations like the gruesome injury sustained by Cam Skattebo on a nationally televised game. We talk about some of the concerns associated with an open fractures and the standard treatment options. We compare this injury to other similar injuries and try to predict the career impact this injury will have on this hard charging young player!

We compare and contrast three different knee injuries, ACL, PCL and multi-ligament knee injuries commonly the result of a knee dislocation. The spring board for this conversation being the gruesome injury sustained by Tyreek Hill on national television on Monday Night Football. Those injuries are not just difficult to watch, they can be devastating. They are not uncommonly associated with nerve injuries (drop foot) and, even worse, occasionally vascular injuries potentially resulting in amputation.

To follow up our in depth preseason review, we have our first injury recap. We cover multiple injuries and expected time missed with each of these. We even dip our toe back into MLB, with Trea Turner and hamstring injuries.

We revisit a common topic from a new angle, why do some athletes miss a whole year from a torn meniscus, like J.J. McCarthy, while others expect to miss just a few weeks? We discuss some of the reports on Landon Dickerson. There are some ominous concerns regarding his history, but should we expect a long recovery?

We bring back Dr. Brian George, one of our hand specialists, to discuss Bryce Harpers latest cryptic wrist injury. What is actually causing pain? What is the injury and how does getting hit by a pitch in the elbow exacerbate a wrist injury? Also somewhat confounding, why did Giancarlo Stanton need to miss 1/3rd of the baseball season for tennis elbow? One of these things may make sense...

We welcome an incredibly accomplished new guest, Arthur Ng, MD, a cardiac surgeon at Virtua to explain what the "hole in the heart" Kris Letang, defenseman for the Pittsburgh Penguins, has been diagnosed with, and why he needed a procedure at the end of the season to correct it. Patent foramen ovale is one kind of hole in the heart and we learn just how shockingly common it is and why Letang needed a procedure to close it. We have previously discussed Letang coming back from two strokes, and now we know why. This is outlier sports medicine that you may not have ever learned about previously!

Aaaaaannd we're back! After a little layoff, Brandon and Steve do a multi-injury show and cover a variety of injuries and 2025 expectations for multiple all-star players, coming back from injury shortened seasons in 2024 including Ohtani, Acuna, deGrom and many more!