Sidney Crosby Comes Out of Isolation at Pittsburgh Penguins

Sidney Crosby Comes Out of Isolation at Pittsburgh Penguins

The storm is finally over for Penguin’s captain, Sidney Crosby. The star can now mingle freely with his team mates as evidenced on Thursday during the team’s training session. From the look of things, Crosby seems to have recovered from the mumps that had earlier on caused him to be separated from his peers at Penguins. The star was seen training alongside strength and conditioning coach, Mike Kadar, on Wednesday. According to the team’s website, the player has now been cleared by health experts to continue playing for Penguins.

Crosby was secluded from his mates since last Friday but was set free after Wednesday because the threat of infecting others had been dealt with. The mumps on Crosby were first reported on November 29 after an opponent from Hurricanes got hold of his throat while the match was still in progress. The incidence caused Crosby to develop a severe swelling on his throat because the salivary glands had been injured. 

Before the doctors could treat his swollen throat, they had to carry out some tests to ensure he was free from mumps. And sure enough, the results showed he was still healthy. He was given some medicine just to remedy the soreness but surprisingly, his right side of the face became swollen. The soreness was a red flag that needed to be addressed immediately because mumps are known to spread like bush fire.

Mumps are usually identified through symptoms such as fever, chills and pain in most body parts. Though the captain did not have such symptoms, he had to be secluded from his peers to allow time for medical tests and observations. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the results were negative for the second time. In such a case the medics had no choice but to allow him to continue mingling with other players.

However, things took a different turn on one particular Friday. On that day, Crosby had turned up for the morning practice session and after skating for some time, the right side of his face became sore. In fact, the reporters who were covering the session captured his swollen face on camera. The swelling continued to grow bigger and hence the doctors had to isolate him from the rest of the team.

“I had a previous thing that happened (salivary gland injury) a couple weeks before that that I was dealing with for at least 10 days to two weeks, basically in the same area that the mumps,” Crosby said.

“Of course it was the perfect situation. Our staff is well aware of it. They’ve done a great job. We had all our blood tests run before that. All my tests were negative. The fact that I had that incident before that threw everyone off and that the tests were negative. I think it’s just one of those things.

“Everyone did the right things to make sure me and everyone was as protected as you can be. Sometimes you can’t do anything about it. People get sick.”

The doctors took some of his DNA and took it to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) for further testing. Shockingly, the results showed that he had contracted mumps. Crosby is very much interested in playing during tonight’s match against Colorado Avalanche but can not walk into the ice without consulting his doctors.

“I’m going to talk to the doctors and see what they think,” Crosby said. “The fact that I’m able to be around the guys and going about daily things is nice.” He said he was more than thrilled to be able to play again because he did not expect to return any time soon.

“After you miss a week, whether you’re injured or whatever, you don’t always feel that great,” Crosby said. “But getting back on the ice and being around your teammates is something that helps. I wouldn’t say I feel great, but I’m also happy to be back here.”

The player stated that he spent most of his isolation period in bed and on watching television. Crosby is actually the 13th player to contract mumps. The situation had at one time seemed to get out of hand which saw some NHL teams call off their matches.