Danny
11-02-2006, 01:40 AM
Looks like he will miss the 2006 season.
Rama's diagnosis shocks Bombers
By Chip Le Grand
February 11, 2006
FOXSPORTS
ADAM RAMANAUSKAS is unlikely to play for his beloved Bombers this year.
But for a newly married young man who has just learned of the recurrence of an aggressive cancer in his body, resuming his AFL career is the least of his concerns.
Ramanauskas faces surgery, chemotherapy and probably both to treat the growth of a malignant tumour in his chest and neck.
Having fought the disease three years ago, Ramanauskas knew a recurrence was possible. What shocked the premiership player and his club is the speed with which the cancer returned.
"The treatment before more or less put it on hold," Essendon chief executive Peter Jackson explained yesterday. "That can be for a lifetime. It wasn't in this case."
As he did three years ago, Jackson was given the task of telling the Essendon players and coaches about Ramanauskas' uncertain prognosis before yesterday's training session. While there was an inescapable sense of deja vu, it made the job no easier.
"If anything, it might have been harder this time," he said.
Ramanauskas first learned of the recurrence last Tuesday, when oncologists discovered a new tumour during a routine check-up. He told Jackson and his closest friends at the club on Thursday night and then stood by as Jackson delivered the grim news to the rest of the playing group.
"Shocked, bewildered, disappointed, silent" was how Jackson described the players' response.
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Until this week, Ramanauskas had enjoyed an outstanding pre-season campaign; his first following a knee reconstruction early last year. He had hardly missed a session over summer and had recently set a personal best time in a sprint test.
For the first time since April 2003, when a benign tumour was first detected by club doctors, it appeared as though Ramanauskas' luck had started to change.
"He is fantastic, he is strong, he has done a full pre-season," Jackson said. "He looks great. And that is the hardest thing to understand."
Ramanauskas' cancer is an unusual one. It had its genesis in fibromatosis, a rare, congenital condition which produces aggressive, non-malignant tumours.
After undergoing surgery midway through the 2003 season to remove the lumps, he resumed his place in the Essendon midfield. But just as the club was heading towards another finals campaign, a biopsy revealed a new growth. This time, it was malignant.
Before deciding on his next course of treatment, most likely to begin this week, Ramanauskas will seek further specialist opinions both in Australia and overseas.
Ramanauskas is a talismanic figure at Windy Hill. At age 19, he was the youngest member of Essendon's 2000 premiership team, considered one of the greatest in football history.
He has since become one of Essendon's most popular clubmen and his fight against cancer its inspiration. Only a month ago, he wed his fiancee Belinda.
Jackson said Ramanauskas would not want his team-mates "weeping and wailing" and had no plans to withdraw from the club he joined at age 17.
"He is going to be around the club," Jackson said. "He is an amazing young man.
"The worst thing he knows he could do is sit at home and dwell. He wants to get out there and be normal. He wants to be around his mates.
"At a time like this, all you can do is love the guy and support him."
The Australian
Rama's diagnosis shocks Bombers
By Chip Le Grand
February 11, 2006
FOXSPORTS
ADAM RAMANAUSKAS is unlikely to play for his beloved Bombers this year.
But for a newly married young man who has just learned of the recurrence of an aggressive cancer in his body, resuming his AFL career is the least of his concerns.
Ramanauskas faces surgery, chemotherapy and probably both to treat the growth of a malignant tumour in his chest and neck.
Having fought the disease three years ago, Ramanauskas knew a recurrence was possible. What shocked the premiership player and his club is the speed with which the cancer returned.
"The treatment before more or less put it on hold," Essendon chief executive Peter Jackson explained yesterday. "That can be for a lifetime. It wasn't in this case."
As he did three years ago, Jackson was given the task of telling the Essendon players and coaches about Ramanauskas' uncertain prognosis before yesterday's training session. While there was an inescapable sense of deja vu, it made the job no easier.
"If anything, it might have been harder this time," he said.
Ramanauskas first learned of the recurrence last Tuesday, when oncologists discovered a new tumour during a routine check-up. He told Jackson and his closest friends at the club on Thursday night and then stood by as Jackson delivered the grim news to the rest of the playing group.
"Shocked, bewildered, disappointed, silent" was how Jackson described the players' response.
Advertisement:
Until this week, Ramanauskas had enjoyed an outstanding pre-season campaign; his first following a knee reconstruction early last year. He had hardly missed a session over summer and had recently set a personal best time in a sprint test.
For the first time since April 2003, when a benign tumour was first detected by club doctors, it appeared as though Ramanauskas' luck had started to change.
"He is fantastic, he is strong, he has done a full pre-season," Jackson said. "He looks great. And that is the hardest thing to understand."
Ramanauskas' cancer is an unusual one. It had its genesis in fibromatosis, a rare, congenital condition which produces aggressive, non-malignant tumours.
After undergoing surgery midway through the 2003 season to remove the lumps, he resumed his place in the Essendon midfield. But just as the club was heading towards another finals campaign, a biopsy revealed a new growth. This time, it was malignant.
Before deciding on his next course of treatment, most likely to begin this week, Ramanauskas will seek further specialist opinions both in Australia and overseas.
Ramanauskas is a talismanic figure at Windy Hill. At age 19, he was the youngest member of Essendon's 2000 premiership team, considered one of the greatest in football history.
He has since become one of Essendon's most popular clubmen and his fight against cancer its inspiration. Only a month ago, he wed his fiancee Belinda.
Jackson said Ramanauskas would not want his team-mates "weeping and wailing" and had no plans to withdraw from the club he joined at age 17.
"He is going to be around the club," Jackson said. "He is an amazing young man.
"The worst thing he knows he could do is sit at home and dwell. He wants to get out there and be normal. He wants to be around his mates.
"At a time like this, all you can do is love the guy and support him."
The Australian