BELIEVE it or not,Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao is enduring an injury.
The veteran mentor has been frequently seen just sitting on the Elasto Painters’ bench during games, far from his usual habit of standing up for almost the entire duration while calling the shots.
It turns out Guiao, 67, is nursing a back injury doctors referred to as disc herniation - which, when Googled, occurs when the soft center of a spinal cushion pushes through a tear in its tougher outer layer and presses on a nearby nerve.
The RoS coach has already been advised to undergo surgery, but is currently doing therapy in the hope the injury will heal naturally without needing to go under the knife.
“Binibigyan ko yung sarili ko ng five to six months or half a year. Kung may mangyari sa therapy, edi mabuti. Pero kung hindi mag-iiba or tataas pa yung pain level, siguro kailangan ko nang magpaopera,” Guiao related to SPIN.ph.
Familiar feeling
In a way, Guiao’s injury is similar to the one suffered by NBA great Larry Bird during his stellar playing career that eventually led to his retirement in 1992. The image of the Boston Celtics legend lying on the floor at the far end of the team bench was a vivid reminder of the excruciating back pain he had to endure at the tail-end of his Hall of Fame career.
Guaio said he wasn’t familiar with Bird’s injury, but the intensity of pain appears to be almost the same.
“I’m not sure kung parehas kami ni Larry Bird,” he said.
“Pero nahihirapan akong tumayo nang matagal. Kapag nakaupo ako, ang direction ng relief ko is yung flexion ang tawag nila, yung naka-turn nang kaunti yung spine ko. Pero kapag nag-e-extend ako (ng back), yun, masakit yun.”
The grind of playing a physical game on a daily basis obviously led to Bird’s back injury.
As for Guiao?
“Sa katandaan siguro,” he said with a huge smile on his face. “Sa katandaan tsaka nagwo-workout din ako, nagwe-weights ako. Baka minsan, mabigat yung binubuhat ko. Marami, hindi lang isang bagay."
“Yung gamit mo pang araw-araw, yung through the years naging athlete din ako, naging runner din ako,” he added. “Siguro nung kabataan, yung mga activities mo, to a certain point, kumbaga sisingilin ka. Yung wear and tear.”
But the good thing is that his daily exercises and decompression routine appear to be working for his hurting back.
Guiao said he does twice-a-week therapy at the hospital, and also has exercises and routines which he does at home on a daily basis.
“Merong good days, may bad days. Merong araw na paggising mo, maganda ang pakiramdam mo. Meron namang araw na paggising mo, hirap kang bumangon sa kama,” the seven-time PBA champion coach said.
“Pero ang magandang balita, yung bad days, medyo nababawasan na siya. Mas marami na yung good days.”
Bird, underwent spinal fusion just months after his retirement to relieve chronic pain on his back. It’s the same procedure Guiao will have to go through should an operation be the only option left.
“Sabi sa akin ng doctor, kung ooperahan siya, ang tawag nila spinal fusion, lalagyan ng parang artificial disc and then parang meron siyang rod na ikakabit,” he explained.
Hopefully, Guiao's health issue won’t have go through the exact same thing.
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