Cleveland Cavaliers’ Anderson Varejão Out For Season With Blood Clot
By Josh Sanchez
The Cleveland Cavaliers have received some bad news. On Monday, the team announced that center Anderson Varejão will miss the remainder of the season after developing a blood clot last week. Varejão was originally set to miss eight to ten weeks after undergoing knee surgery, but the time table is now much greater.
Varejão will receive treatments with blood thinners that will keep him on the sidelines for the rest of the year. The Cavaliers released a statement to announce the bad news:
"Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao recently developed a blood clot (small right lower lung pulmonary embolism) and was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic last Thursday (January 17th). He is being treated with blood thinners (anticoagulants) and is expected to stay at the Clinic for several days, while undergoing treatment and observation. He will need to remain on blood thinning medication for approximately three months. While Varejao is expected to fully recover, he will miss the remainder of the current Cavaliers season."
“Clearly our players’ health is our top concern and we are disappointed for Anderson, and his family,” Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant said. “We know what a competitor he is and how much he wants to be on the court helping his teammates. In the meantime, he has our full support and we look forward to welcoming him back as he recovers.”
The bad news for Varejão is that he once again will miss significant time during a season because of an injury or condition. The good news, and the most important news of all, is that doctors caught this scary condition in time to save Varejão’s life. We wish him a speedy recovery.