Brian Vickers to miss remainder of season...

[south jersey girl]

from Jayski...
Brian Vickers says he will miss the remainder of the NASCAR season because of blood clots in his lungs and left leg. Vickers was hospitalized with chest pains during a visit to Washington, D.C., last week. Further tests discovered the blood clots, and he sat out last weekend's race at Dover. Vickers said on Friday that after returning to North Carolina last Saturday, he had a recurrence of chest pains and was readmitted to the hospital for two nights. Vickers says the decision was then made for him to sit out the rest of the season.(ESPN/Associated Press), Jay Frye, General Manager of Red Bull Racing says it is still to be determined if Casey Mears will stay in the #83, but he doesn't anticipate a driver change. The team could use someone else for the road courses

[DougS]

After listening to several stories this week on Sirius from callers that suffer from the same affliction, he truly is lucky to be alive. After hearing his press conference I do think that he un-intentionally jeopardized his life and we are lucky that he didn't pass.

Prayers for him and what he's going through. I hope that this isn't a career ender for him, and the doctors can find a regiment that keeps his body from producing clots.

[20forLogano]

Best of luck to Brian and a recovery.  It was great to see him at the track last night.  Those Caffeine laced Red Bulls certainly cannot help the cause either. 
On another note, I expect Casey to be in the car and think it would be silly to take him out for the Road courses.  I could almost state those are the type of tracks that Casey is best at

[CodeBlueEMT]

 I hope the doctors can figure out why a seemingly healthy guy like Brian Vickers developed DVT's. Is it from sitting for long periods of time behind the wheel? Does he have underlying medical problems? How much Red Bull does Brian drink on a regular basis?

 

[Blu]

EMT, I also have DVT (among other probs) and was told it was at least partly due to extended seat time over the years (I was an OTR trucker for quite some time).

It is VERY painful and those clots can be deadly very easily. Brian Vickers is a VERY lucky young man IMHO and I sure do wish him well in the future.

 Kinda sucks as he was really starting to get some recognition as a driver

[scott b]

From what I understand (I'm no doctor) having to remain seated for long periods can cause the condition to act up, but I would think there is a hereditary component as well.

As far as we know right now, this isn't widespread among NASCAR drivers, even with those who've raced more seasons (Mark Martin, Jeff Burton), or drive more races per season (Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards).

I trust the doctors will be screening all the drivers more carefully for this now that the Vickers case is in the spotlight.

He was lucky to nip it in the bud... best wishes for a speedy recovery to Brian.