Oh to Undergo Surgery

Any word on this situation?

Jim Albright

Moriwaka has said Oh should be back in a month or so, right now he's watching them on television at the hospital.

I'm just praying for good news. He is my all time baseball hero.

You know this site has gone mad when the end of a pitcher's scoreless streak gets more attention than the news of a legendary player/manager going through surgery.

I agree, and am partially to blame. I felt the same way when Nagashima had a stroke just before last season.

The main problem is that medical Japanese is something that takes a painfully long time for me to translate correctly, and I haven't had the time due to work and community obligations.

I'll try to write something each day there's mention in the newspaper, but I fear that it may not be very detailed until I finish a couple more non-baseball related projects.

I understand. Medical reports can be a pain to read in any language.

There hasn't been a lot of updates on his conditions. Has he already been operated on? If so, how long will it take for him to recover? My guess is that he will be back before the season is over, but even that doesn't seem to be certain. Whatever the case, we indeed wish him very well.

The full story of Oh-kantoku's current situation started on July 3, 2006 when he was given the results of a general checkup. He was told that he may have to undergo surgery for a tumor in his stomach. This and his tentative schedule to check into a Tokyo hospital for further tests the following day was announce at a press conference following the 3-3 tie between the Hawks and Seibu Lions at Fukuoka Yahoo! Dome on July 5. Moriwaki-chief coach is taking over the team during Oh-kantoku's absence.

Oh-kantoku flew into Haneda Airport on July 6th and, after a short meeting with his family, was admitted to Keio University Hospital. A stomach specialist, Kitajima-san (?), has been called back to Japan from a foreign conference to take care of Oh-kantoku. At this point, depending on test results, surgery was tentatively being planned the week after next. That would put it some time around the 20th.

The third day after the announcement, July 8th, saw the third day in a row that Oh-kantoku's pending surgery led the front page of Nikkan Sports and other sports dailies. With no real new news, from this point on it's mainly been reaction from the baseball community.

Every win by the Hawks since has been a win for Oh-kantoku. There have been almost daily reports about Oh watching the game and congratulating his starting pitchers for a job well done. It almost appears that the players are trying harder than ever to win Oh's approval, as though he were a very hard to please father.

Errmmm, I've been trying to figure out exactly WHAT happened in this operation, but reading articles like this [Yahoo! Sports Japan], it sounds like they took his entire stomach out, not just the tumor? Is that for real?

The confusion would probably be due to the "胃の摘出手術受ける" headline - literally meaning something like "having a removal of the stomach operation." I think that that's part of the procedure, not the operation itself.

The front page of Nikkan Sports today (July 18) has a short paragraph where medical journalist Matsui Hiroo describes the procedure:

"This differs from an aparotomy (ventrotomy?) operation in that several small holes are opened in the abdomin, then an endoscope and other operational tools are inserted."

As you can see, a medical dictionary is still required for most of us in English. Still, Matsui-san goes on to say that this is an extremely difficult procedure for even the top specialists. After this operation, Oh-kantoku won't be able to eat much, and things with calcium and iron will especially need aids (drugs?) to help digestion.

Nonetheless, the baseball world can breath a sigh of relief as the operation went over flawlessly and Oh-kantoku is now recovering fine. In fact, he was on the phone to Fukuoka hours after the operation showing concern about Matsunaka's physical health and asking if he was going to be fit enough to participate in the All Star Series at the end of this week. Oh-kantoku may not be in Fukuoka physically, but it doesn't appear that he's left the team at all mentally.

I dunno, japanball.com has a translated article about the surgery up, and it says things like "... a successful operation to remove his stomach," and mentions that "there could be some aftereffects since he is missing the stomach, and we will explain how he should take his meals before he leaves the hospital."

It also mentions the actual word "cancer," which I wasn't sure I'd seen anywhere else, just "tumor."

I hope it all just sounds a lot worse than it is. They seem very optimistic that he will be able to return to his managerial duties fairly soon, at least.

I personally have given up on trying to read any of the articles in Japanese, though.

According to the report I just read, Oh-kantoku had a full gastrectomy [Wikipedia] on Monday and there will be a press conference on Tuesday morning. The procedure took place at Keio University (hospital) and is described as going well.

I think I speak for everyone when I wish Oh-kantoku best wishes for a speedy recovery and a quick return to the bench.

That is a big sigh of relief for all yakyu fans indeed. It may take some time for him to get back on the field, but I'm sure he'll be the same type of leader that he's proven himself to be over the years.

I was incorrect. Oh-kantoku's stomach was removed in the operation. Please see this image from today's (July 19, 2006) Nikkan Sports:

The headline on top in blue states "Oh-kantoku's stomach cancer operation," so yes, it was stomach cancer.

If anyone would like to translate the explanation below the diagram, and/or the body parts, it would be much appreciated. I blundered the previous translation so badly, I'm a little gun shy to try again.

On a side note, my wife did say that it's not unusual to have a stomach removed. Her mother had 60% of her stomach removed to take care of an ulcer. I guess I should have asked her to interpret the meaning of the English I'd translated.

I could not find your link from Nikkan Sports. Could you please post the link that has the image.

As I know that the tumor in stomach is most likely cancer, Oh-kantouku needed a total gastrectomy (remove the whole stomach), suggesting a late stage of cancer. This surgery also needed a removal of the surrounding lymph nodes to prevent metastasis (recurrence).

After removing the stomach, the doctors reconstruct the altered parts of the digestive tract as shown in the images.

We just pray and hope he is as strong as Lance Armstrong.

Regarding a link, that was from the physical paper version of Nikkan Sports. Sorry, no link to paper.

Now the news that everyone's been waiting for: Oh-kantoku has been released from the hospital as of August 2, 2006. He's lost about 8 or 9 kg, now down to 74 kg since being admitted. Other than when he's eating, he can't tell that his stomach is no longer there.

Oh-kantoku plans on taking it easy through August while he rebuilds his strength. I'm afraid that I couldn't really tell if he was going to rejoin the Hawks in the dugout in September, though, or if he was just cheering them on to overtake Seibu by then.

Nonetheless, rehabilitation is going along just fine and Oh-kantoku is now strong enough to leave the hospital. The Pro Yakyu world is relieved that the danger has passed and Oh-kantoku is recovering as planned.

Very good news indeed.

The Hawks have done surprisingly well despite his absence, but it wouldn't hurt them at all to have his presence back on the bench.

Have you read anything indicating that his cancer (which I gather is what made the surgery necessary in the first place) is thought to have been all removed? Because until that part of the puzzle is clear to me, I wouldn't regard Oh as out of the woods. I'm also not certain how in depth the news releases from hospitals are on these matters, and then we've got the possible cultural differences between how these matters are handled publicly in Japan versus in the States.

It's also at least ironic that Oh's wife's final illness was stomach cancer. I'm hoping he has a better outcome, but as yet, I'm not reassured.

Jim Albright

On July 19, two days after the operation to remove his cancerous stomach, Oh-kantoku began rehabilitation with a number of walks 30 meters long down the corridor. It was noted that Oh-kantoku was up and walking after the operation on the 18th, but this marks the start of rehab.

Beginning today (July 20), Oh-kantoku will start drinking small amounts of water.

Hospital staff feels that Oh-kantoku's progress is coming along as planned.

Naturally, from 6:00 pm Oh-kantoku was glued to the TV watching his Hawks finish out the first half of the season, losing to the Lions by a score of 3-1. No big come from behind win this evening, and the Hawks finish the first half 2.5 games behind the Pacific League leading Seibu Lions.