Davey Boy Smith Jr. opens up about his emergency surgery.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. was set to challenge Alex Kane for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship at MLW Slaughterhouse on October 14. Ahead of the bout, Smith Jr. announced that he underwent emergency surgery for appendicitis and appendix removal, and he found out he had diverticulitis. Smith Jr. was then pulled from MLW Slaughterhouse and placed on injured reserve.
Speaking with Mike McGuire on McGuire on Wrestling, Smith Jr. offered an update on his health. He started by stating that he was doing a lot better. He then recalled what happened and noted that he had some symptoms that he initially believed to be linked to eating something bad.
“Basically, I had some symptoms that were extremely painful right around Canadian Thanksgiving time. I was having dinner, and usually I’m the type that, Thanksgiving dinner, I’m having at least a couple plates full of everything. I was extremely constipated and not feeling good. I was barely able to finish off a plate. So then the next day, I was just putting it off on, ‘Oh, maybe something I ate wasn’t that good,’ and everyone else seemed fine. The pain and swelling in my stomach started to really increase, and it was getting really painful. It was like a swelling. Picture your stomach here just swelling, but the rest of your stomach’s flat. It’s just an extreme pain, like if someone is non-stop booting you in the guts or shooting you in the guts with a shotgun. I can’t say what that feels like, but that’s what I could compare it to. So then I went to the walk-clinic, and the doctor there tests my urine. She says that there’s a high white blood cell count, and there’s blood in the urine too. I couldn’t see it, but they examine it differently. So he chalked it off to being a urinary tract infection, and it’ll be better in a few days, and take antibiotics. So I said, ‘Alright.’ She goes, ‘But if it does get worse, go to emergency,'" Smith Jr. said.
He noted that the pain kept getting worse, and he eventually went to the emergency room. Smith Jr. brought up how Brock Lesnar previously had diverticulitis, and he understood what he meant when he said the pain was excruciating. Davey stated that the doctors diagnosed him with appendicitis, and he needed to get emergency surgery, where part of his colon was removed.
“So to see if you have diverticulitis, they have to do what’s called a CT scan. They go, ‘Well, we can’t get you in for that, but we have to take care of this first. We can get you in for a CT scan but it’s gonna be in a few hours, and in a few hours, we’re gonna be doing surgery. So they cut me open, and then they found that I have something called diverticulosis, which is a little bit different than diverticulitis. It’s the same thing, but when they opened me up, they saw that my colon was very infected and swollen. Basically, what diverticulosis is where they cut, like Brock Lesnar had a foot of his coming cut, and I think his came back again, or it came, happened like mine, and then it was diverticulosis, which I’m praying doesn’t happen, where they cut a foot of his colon, whereas mine, they just trimmed inch off. They trim the infected area. It’s not as bad as cutting a foot off your colon. When you think a foot, you think, ‘Oh,’ but you expand your colon out and stretch it, it’s 12 feet or something. So then they came in and they vacuumed a bunch of the infection out, and they do what’s like a trimming, like a haircut. Then on severe antibiotics after that because the colon’s infected. Basically what happens is, there’s the issue with the colon, but it’s caused by the appendix, and what they said to me, I’m just a rare case, but some people have a longer colon than others. Mine was pushing against my appendix. When it got infected, it just was pushing more into it. Whatever’s blocking the appendix there, it’s causing…it was both. So then they cut and trimmed, so I have three different incisions in my stomach now," he said.
Looking ahead, Smith Jr. stated that everything looks good, and at the time of recording, he was wrapping up antibiotics. Smith Jr. noted that the doctors don't know what caused it, but his aunt Allison had dealt with it before. He expressed his hope that he will be okay after he heals for a while.
"The good news is, it looks like I’ll be alright, and I gotta get a colonoscopy in a month or two to make sure everything’s good and just hopefully it doesn’t come back. Brock Lesnar’s came back, and he had to get the diverticulosis, which is the full foot of his colon removed. I can’t attribute this to anything. People said that, in Brock Lesnar’s case, ‘Oh, well, it’s because he’s been eating wild animals that he’s shooting in the wild. My aunt Allison had the same thing, and a lot of people say it’s genetic. My aunt Allison’s a heathy librarian, and believe me, she’s not eating wild meat that she’s hunting. Believe me, she’s not eating wild meat that she’s hunting. She’s eating stuff from Safeway. But they can’t attribute it to a certain kind of diet. It happens. It could hereditary, like my Aunt Allison has the exact same thing, and hers was okay after a while. So it’s just knock on wood and hope for the best," Smith Jr. said.
Smith Jr. then recalled calling MLW and informing them that he could not compete. He described how MLW CEO Court Bauer has been understanding, as he went through the same thing, so they have been in contact throughout his recovery. Smith Jr. also stated that Bauer has told him he can come back when he's ready.
“Few days I recovered, couple days after that, I gotta go to MLW. Then it was like the next day, it was way worse, and I told them, I got in touch with them then, and I said, ‘Hey, listen. There’s something wrong.’ Funny enough, Court Bauer, the owner of MLW, he had diverticulosis, like mine. He knows exactly…he’s been a great boss because we’ve been chatting back and forth. ‘How’s week one going?’ ‘Oh, yeah, I’ve been there.’ So he’s been great, he’s been checking in on me. He’s told me that I can come back to the ring when I’m ready, and he’s like, ‘Believe me, I’ve literally been there. I know exactly what it’s like.’ So he’s been a good help. He’s been checking in on me every few days," he said.
As for a potential timeline for his return, Smith Jr. stated that he hopes to get back in the gym slowly, as he hadn't been working out die to the surgery. He explained that the timeframe usually calls for a month, and it will be a slow recovery. Smith Jr. then emphasized that he will take it one day at a time and see how he feels.
“Hopefully, I’m back in the gym slowly the next week or so. They gave me a good four-week prognosis that, even though it was the appendix being removed, which is a two-to-four week, it’s more like a month. When you get the diverticulosis, it’s a good month of recovery. We’re going on week three of it now, so I should be be good. It’s just gonna be a slow recovery, and I’ll be good by December 16, and as long as we’re going and I’m training and feeling good. I just gotta take it day by day and see where we go. But as far as I know, I’ll be good by then. It’s just gonna be a rough time getting back in the gym. It’s a shock I’ve never had," Smith Jr. said.
Fightful wishes Smith Jr. well in his recovery, and we will provide more information as it becomes available.
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