Darren Fletcher's break from football

Thanks sammsky.

Your insight and inspiration gave me hope fore Fletch. It make me happy to hear that you have fully recover, they way you described your experience made me realize how careful you should be with your life.

Darren Fletcher is a fighter. I wish the best for him and his family and whenever he's better I hope he can continue play for our club. We need players like him.
 
I have no idea how severe Flech's condition is and I know that my UC was not say aa severe as sammsky's was for example i didn't need an op. But i do take tablets to this day and after a brief spell on the sidelines returned and played football competitively until my early fifties when finally the knees (not the colon) gave way!! Don't get me wrong I never played football as a professional but I did play high quality amatuer/semi pro. The doctors urged me to become active as soon as I felt able and I still am active today through going to the gym, walking etc... So don't give up on Fletch any of you out there. I really really hope we will see the lad in a United shirt again and if he does play what a boost for all sufferers of UC and other similar complaints
 
Not had the luckiest of careers, our Darren :(

I'll never forget him being an absolute giant in midfield for us most of 08-09... He was everywhere and was doing well in all stages of the game.

I hope I've not seen that for the last time :(
 
Eriku said:
Not had the luckiest of careers, our Darren :(

I'll never forget him being an absolute giant in midfield for us most of 08-09... He was everywhere and was doing well in all stages of the game.

I hope I've not seen that for the last time :(
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He was undeniably world class that season. I just hope this isn't the end if his career. But at the end of the day it's just a game, whatever is best for Fletcher the person is what counts.
 
sammsky1 said:
From my knowledge (and Im very well read on the subject now), and as I said in my original post, medical science has NO IDEA why people get this condition. All sorts of assumptions are made .... poor diet, hereditary links, stress etc ..... but these are all very vague connections and have not be scientifically proven to be the cause.

Whats also odd about it, is that it can come from nowhere - I'd never had it before, and then was attacked by its most serious form from nowhere. Another thing odd about it is that it can attack the healthiest of people - I'd never had an illness before nor missed a days work in 9 years before I got this. And of course, Fletcher will be 100 times more physically fit and caring of his body that I ever was!

So yes, the official medical answer right now is that 'its mainly bad luck'!
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For Crohn's there seems to be a strong genetic link to it all. I suffer from Crohn's as well as my brother and 2 uncles. We participated in a study at Cedars-Sinai hospital in L.A. where we donated a bunch of blood samples for research. So far, I am the only one in the familiy (that has Crohn's) that has not had a portion of the colon removed. So far, I have been very lucky.
 
I didnt realise it was so common. Best of luck to all those that have it/had it, or those who have a family member or friend with it.

It sounds pretty horrific. Thankfully Fletch will have the best of resources available to him. Good luck to him
 
MarylandMUFan said:
For Crohn's there seems to be a strong genetic link to it all. I suffer from Crohn's as well as my brother and 2 uncles. We participated in a study at Cedars-Sinai hospital in L.A. where we donated a bunch of blood samples for research. So far, I am the only one in the familiy (that has Crohn's) that has not had a portion of the colon removed. So far, I have been very lucky.
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golden_blunder said:
I didnt realise it was so common. Best of luck to all those that have it/had it, or those who have a family member or friend with it.

It sounds pretty horrific. Thankfully Fletch will have the best of resources available to him. Good luck to him
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UC & Chrohns are very similar in terms symptoms and effects but as you know, different illnesses. Of you're right, it could be hereditary .... but again its very vague .... my parents traced back 3 generations on both their family histories and could not identify a previous attack on anybody.

In your case, it does sound like a hereditary thing, Im just saying, its not always, so that is not a conclusive cause. I put my consultant on the spot demanding the exact reason why I got it and at that point, he owned up and said there was no way of saying .... and my surgeon had been a consultant professor of abdominal surgery, teaching at London university medical colleges since 1980 .... ie the most experienced surgeon in this field in the UK in 2004/5 (when I underwent surgery).

His name is Professor Norman Williams and he is the most renowned doctor in this field in the UK, about SAFs age. Great for me, he was also a life long London Red like me and respected SAFs achievements greatly. He was very much like SAF evidenced by the fact that he is still working despite reaching retirement age and world class in the job he performed.

He would perform upto 3 operations a day sometimes, many of those in the evening. After my first surgery, I remained in hospital for 3 weeks for the 1st stage of recuperation. I remember the evening Rooney made his debut for us in the CL and scored that outrageous hat-trick ... Professor Williams was also operating that night but he kept rushing into my room to watch bits of the match when taking mental breaks from the surgery or when he was not needed in the operating theatre! We also watched Liverpool win the CL together, both lamenting on that reality. I was also in hospital for operation no 2 for the FA cup final we lost vs Arse on penalties having battered them and both of us equally pissed off ... and he had to stop be 'ooohing' every time we missed a sitter during the game, in case my stitching from the surgery split! He was great company, my professor surgeon. I pray from him all the time and never ever miss sending him an XMAS card. I always greatly look forward to seeing him yearly for my annual check up.

Who knows, probably Fletcher will be getting advice and perhaps even surgery performed by him. I would certainly recommend and trust him with anybody I cared about who was unluckily enough to have to undergo a similar type of surgery.
 
Fletcher was truly world class in 2007-2009, for about a season and a half. I don't say that lightly because i had been one of those who had written Fletch off prior to those seasons, thinking he was only good enough at best, to be a squad player. But in those two seasons, he really dominated the midfield, even if it was against the better teams in the premier league like chelsea, arsenal, liverpool. He would tackle, read the game well, play brilliant through passes (from time to time), had this super move where he'd just turn with the outside of his foot to move in the opposite direction which he was travelling. Sometimes i put him up there just a notch below the likes of Robbo and Keane, such was his performances in those seasons.

Many united fans wont remember that simply because of how short a period he was truly world class, plus we had others in our team which really excited such as ronaldo, rooney. I always wondered why he became so good yet regressed so badly after this virus. There were times when i thought those brilliant seasons were one season wonders, so much so that he had just been a mediocre player who somehow raised his game to being world class for a season and a half.

Its now clear to me though, that without the illness, Fletch would still be dominating for us in midfield, possibly giving us the same level of performance - its just the illness that took it all away, not him being a one season wonder. Its a shame really because he really was world class in those seasons and one can only imagine how he may have improved further and replaced scholes properly.

I'll keep reminding myself that Fletch was on the way to greatness but for the injury.

Get well soon.
 
Anyone has an idea of what he has and whether he can be cured from it?
 
Sarni said:
Because you cannot be bothered to read the thread?
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I know that he has something called ulcerative colitis (thanks sky) but I don't know what the hell it is and if its a career threatening thing or not
 
devilish said:
what should i check? Whether UC can ruin an EPL professional's player career?
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No, but you can read up on it as I've done. I didn't particularly know a lot about the condition, so I read some stuff about it.

Somebody posted a Wikipedia thing about here, but god knows what page it's on.

It wasn't my intention to be cheeky, just if you want to know about something, it's so easy to put it into Google and look it up.
 
MUFCgal said:
No, but you can read up on it as I've done. I didn't particularly know a lot about the condition, so I read some stuff about it.

Somebody posted a Wikipedia thing about here, but god knows what page it's on.

It wasn't my intention to be cheeky, just if you want to know about something, it's so easy to put it into Google and look it up.
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Medical journals tend to tackle things over the normal person's perspective. Unfortunately the EPL footballer's lifestyle is far from normal. Its a stressful and physical strenuous job which ask the person to be at 100% condition. That is why I tend to skip medical journals and wiki links on this issue. I was hoping some professional guy can answer our questions since Im sincerely worried about the kid.
 
Dr Ian Arnott is a leading specialist in ulcerative colitis. He is a consultant gastroenterologist at the Western General hospital in Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians' associate director for the UK-wide, NHS-funded inflammatory bowel disease audit.


"Ulcerative colitis can be a very disabling condition and leaves people weak, tired, frustrated and lacking energy. It can change people's lives completely. They can't be very far from the toilet so aren't able to go out very much. Patients tell me that when they go to a nearby town or city, they know exactly where every toilet is, because they often get very little warning about needing to go to the toilet. It can mean that people have accidents with their bowel motions. It's an embarrassing condition – it's a difficult subject to talk to people about.

"It is a serious inflammation of the large bowel, which is better-known as the colon. Where it should be pink, smooth and nice it becomes red, weepy and unhappy — it looks like you've taken the skin off your knee. The main symptoms are diarrhoea, blood in stools, stomach pains and feeling rotten. It goes up and down. You will have good periods of remission when you feel normal – that can be a month or even a few years – and bad periods when you feel dreadful and can be forced to go to the toilet six, eight or 10 times a day around the clock, including two or three times a night. If you can imagine having food poisoning and that going on for weeks on end, rather than days, that's what it's like.

"It's quite a common condition. If you take ulcerative colitis together with Crohn's disease, which has similar symptoms, they are known together as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). One in 200 people in the UK develop IBD, so around 300,000 have that. Young people aged between 10 and 40 get it.

"It's not a curable condition unless you have an operation. With surgery you take the colon out completely. People often need an external bag to collect their faeces, though some people get an internal pouch which lets them go to the toilet normally. So you wouldn't have surgery unless you had to. However, one-third of patients end up having an operation to remove their colon at some point in their lives.

"The cause of colitis is unknown. It's genetic to some extent, but less than with Crohn's disease, but something unknown in the environment comes along and sets it off. It could be food, atmospheric pollution or stress – no one really knows what it is. It could be all of them."
 
devilish said:
Medical journals tend to tackle things over the normal person's perspective. Unfortunately the EPL footballer's lifestyle is far from normal. Its a stressful and physical strenuous job which ask the person to be at 100% condition. That is why I tend to skip medical journals and wiki links on this issue. I was hoping some professional guy can answer our questions since Im sincerely worried about the kid.
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I'm worried too, I hope it doesn't get any worse :(
 
SteveJ said:
Apologies if this has been posted before:

England rugby international Lewis Moody kept rare bowel condition like Darren Fletcher's hidden from team-mates for years - Telegraph
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I know it's not a laughing matter but this raised a wry smile.

"I continue to watch my diet – no more curries, red meat (especially lamb), brown bread (surprisingly), caffeine and the protein shakes with creatine that I used religiously at Leicester to help bulk up. Even alcohol has to be taken in moderation."
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Even alcohol?!

Rugby players, eh?
 
Theoren Fluery played 6 or 7 years in the NHL after being diagnosed with Crohn's which has similar symptoms so it is certainly possible that he can play again.

That being said, it is all about how severe his symptoms are and how his body respons to the medication they give him. It's all about finding the right mix of drugs that your body responds to.
 
I have IBS(but gotten better, if anyone here has it and has any questions, please pm me as I'm pretty well read about it). Good luck to Fletcher and all the guys on here who have similar problems. Not easy living with it.
 
MarylandMUFan said:
Theoren Fluery played 6 or 7 years in the NHL after being diagnosed with Crohn's which has similar symptoms so it is certainly possible that he can play again.

That being said, it is all about how severe his symptoms are and how his body respons to the medication they give him. It's all about finding the right mix of drugs that your body responds to.
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I've asked a doctor mate of mine and it basically said what you said.
 
zing said:
I have IBS(but gotten better, if anyone here has it and has any questions, please pm me as I'm pretty well read about it). Good luck to Fletcher and all the guys on here who have similar problems. Not easy living with it.
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IBD is different from IBS
 
Did the club give Fletcher a contract extension despite knowing he had this condition?
 
Devilton said:
Did the club give Fletcher a contract extension despite knowing he had this condition?
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His last appearance before that 'virus' was at Anfield in March, he had signed the new contract two days before.

They didn't know it would be that serious.
 
MarylandMUFan said:
For Crohn's there seems to be a strong genetic link to it all. I suffer from Crohn's as well as my brother and 2 uncles. We participated in a study at Cedars-Sinai hospital in L.A. where we donated a bunch of blood samples for research. So far, I am the only one in the familiy (that has Crohn's) that has not had a portion of the colon removed. So far, I have been very lucky.
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What about links to IBS? My mum's an IBS sufferer and I was diagnosed with Crohn's when I was 5. I've tried to read up as much as I can but sometimes these things just pop up out of the blue.
 
Maciek said:
His last appearance before that 'virus' was at Anfield in March, he had signed the new contract two days before.

They didn't know it would be that serious.
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Right. But the first appearance of the mystery virus took place almost a year before that contract extension was signed. And as we're now told, the 'mystery virus' label was used to protect Fletchers privacy...so the medical team did in fact know he was suffering from ulcerative colitis and yet we signed him to a long term deal.

Could it be the club just thought he would recover quickly from his illness? Because presumably he was also cleared to play as recently as last month even after being diagnosed. I understand Fletcher was probably determined to soldier on, but surely it's a risk to play a man who's just returned to football from a serious condition. He has looked very gaunt at times this season and there was never a time where he looked like he was 100% - or the player we all remember he was a few years ago. Despite this we kept saying Fletch looks stronger, but was that just us the fans wanting to support a player making his way back?

Because it was clear now he wasn't as strong as he was before the condition had manifested itself. I have this terrible feeling he rushed himself back because he knew our midfield was a mess and worse still that he was given medical clearance to do it.

Taken when he signed his extension in March.

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This doesn't look good at all. I only hope he can somehow manage this and be able to resume his career. It does look doubtful right now though. Nonetheless, fingers crossed!

I always admired Darren and thought he was a true Manchester United player. Can't think of a better tribute than that right now.
 
Devilton said:
Right. But the first appearance of the mystery virus took place almost a year before that contract extension was signed. And as we're now told, the 'mystery virus' label was used to protect Fletchers privacy...so the medical team did in fact know he was suffering from ulcerative colitis and yet we signed him to a long term deal.

Could it be the club just thought he would recover quickly from his illness? Because presumably he was also cleared to play as recently as last month even after being diagnosed. I understand Fletcher was probably determined to soldier on, but surely it's a risk to play a man who's just returned to football from a serious condition. He has looked very gaunt at times this season and there was never a time where he looked like he was 100% - or the player we all remember he was a few years ago. Despite this we kept saying Fletch looks stronger, but was that just us the fans wanting to support a player making his way back?

Because it was clear now he wasn't as strong as he was before the condition had manifested itself. I have this terrible feeling he rushed himself back because he knew our midfield was a mess and worse still that he was given medical clearance to do it.

Taken when he signed his extension in March.

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There is no point trying to find some "blame" or "fault" in this scenario.

Fletch has been a long and loyal servant to this club, he deserved his contract and in regards to him coming back and then sitting out ect.... that's exactly what happens with the symptoms of the disease. He may have felt stronger in the summer but once he was back playing it could have kicked in again.

Just got to hope for the best for him.
 
Pexbo said:
There is no point trying to find some "blame" or "fault" in this scenario.

Fletch has been a long and loyal servant to this club, he deserved his contract and in regards to him coming back and then sitting out ect.... that's exactly what happens with the symptoms of the disease. He may have felt stronger in the summer but once he was back playing it could have kicked in again.

Just got to hope for the best for him.
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Very observant. Putting the pieces together, that is EXACTLY what has happened.

Also, I dont care too much for Devilton's line of questioning. Manchester United has behaved impeccably, just as any genuinely responsible employer should about the medical welfare of an employee. Kudos to our club for that.
 
sammsky1 said:
Very observant. Putting the pieces together, that is EXACTLY what has happened.

Also, I dont care too much for Devilton's line of questioning. Manchester United has behaved impeccably, just as any genuinely responsible employer should about the medical welfare of an employee. Kudos to our club for that.
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Well said. It's incredible that anyone could suggest Fletcher shouldn't have got a new contract.
 
sammsky1 said:
Very observant. Putting the pieces together, that is EXACTLY what has happened.

Also, I dont care too much for Devilton's line of questioning. Manchester United has behaved impeccably, just as any genuinely responsible employer should about the medical welfare of an employee. Kudos to our club for that.
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I'm sorry you feel that way but frankly I don't see why questioning the clubs medical team is seen as such an affront? I have never suggested Fletcher shouldn't be entitled to medical welfare and I do wish him the best in his recovery but that has nothing to do with him getting an extended contract. There are other ways a club can protect it's players from medical issues - insurance would be one of them (one that I'm sure Fletcher has).

Also to suggest the club has behaved impeccably may not be entirely accurate when it's been reported that playing Fletcher this season may have aggravated his condition.

Look it's not as if this situation is without precedent. Hargreaves didn't have too many kind words to say about our medical team either, and now we a player out indefinitely with a condition that the doctors knew about presumably for a lot longer then they let on. If he did have the condition - why was he given clearance to play? Surely his health is more important then football right?

I know these are difficult questions to ask, and perhaps we aren't entitled to all the answers but they will nonetheless be asked if not by us then by others.

Again - I'm not blaming the club, merely questioning how this matter was handled because there seems to be a lack of transparency about it and once again the negative spotlight has fallen on our medical staff.
 
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