Peter Gammons undergoes emergency brain surgery

This is horrible news. Like was mentioned above, to me, a 26-year old, this guy is baseball journalism to me. I've grown up watching him on ESPN and always thought he was awesome. I hope he makes it.

 

My little brother had a brain aneurysm when he was 10, and the night before it happened, we were playing football together in the living room. I can't speak to whether or not Gammons was showing signs, but from my experience and others I've talked to who've had family members go through it, there is no warning. It's just one of those things.

I've kind of been in shock since I heard the news this evening, as it took me right back to that morning it happened to my bro. The closest contact I've ever had with Gammons is watching him on tv, but I imagine my thoughts and prayers will be with be with him, hopefully for a while.

 

The swelling is the aneurysm, not the bursting.
So the aneurysm can exist for quite some time.
But I don't know if the swelling/sac would be large enough to affect behavior or motor skills. I guess it would be theoretically possible. A lot would have to do with where the aneurysm is within the brain.

 

My cousin died of a busted one two years ago, she was 26. I hadn't seen her in like three years before she died, so I can't speak for how she was beforehand. I know this is stupid, but for anyone who watched Six Feet Under, Nate acted weird and would say stuff uncontrollably when he started getting bad before he died. I know it's just TV, but I'd say the chances of it being accurate are pretty good.

 

So if it was Stewert Scott would you have wished him ill will? Leave it to you to turn this story to one about yourself.

 

I've long admired Peter's writing and hope he can pull through. God bless.

 

Gammons is one of the rare ones at ESPN (along with Jeremy Schaap, Bob Ley, Anne Werder, and a couple others) who you feel have more substance than the shtik they are made to go through. My hopes go out to him and his for a recovery. And the existence of aneurysms is one of those things that should make you appreciate each moment in life, because it's all tenuous, subject to being toppled by stuff like a lightning bolt, a driver having a seizure, a commandeered airplane, or an aneurysm.

 

UPDATE:

ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons, 61, is out of surgery and in intensive care after undergoing an operation for an aneurysm in his brain.

Gammons was stricken earlier today near his home on the Cape. He was taken to a hospital on the Cape before being air-lifted to a Boston-area hospital. He is expected to be in intensive care for the next 10 to 12 days.

 

I'm no doctor -- don't even play one on TV, and haven't stayed at a Holiday Inn Express recently -- but might be able to shed a little light. Last fall my doctor thought I might have an aneurysm (fortunately it wasn't the case) so I learned a bit about them. Often there are no symptoms unless the thing bursts, but depending on where it is and how severe it is it can cause headaches, sensitivity to light and changes in speech and/or vision.

 

Back when I was a kid, a friend of mine had a brain aneurysm explode while he was on the ice playing hockey.
Died immediately. He was just 18 years old. The shock stayed with all a long, long time.

 

Just passing this along from another site. Who knows whether it's legit or not, but it passes the smell test, at least. And what's a more fitting tribute to Peter Gammons than passing along rumors anyway?

The doctor is cautiously optimistic that Peter will be okay. Apparently a passer-by discovered Peter passed out in his car this morning on the Cape. He was rushed to Falmouth Hospital and then the Brigham, where an aneurysm expert clamped the artery just before it ruptured. He was airlifted to Boston, and got through the surgery. He will be unconscious until Wednesday evening.

 

A friend attended the Pearl Jam gig in Minneapolis last night. Vedder dedicated "Light Years" to Peter Gammons. That's a pretty rare live song; Vedder told the crowd to cheer harder than usual to give Gammons extra energy to recover.

I thought that was pretty cool.