Many of you, especially if you are from Texas, know the Frese family. Mike and Kami, the parents, have produced two amazing Rubio Long Snappers in Nolan (University of Houston) and Jordan (Texas A&M). The Frese family has been with Rubio Long Snapping for almost ten years at this point. Great family and always willing to help out the first time parents, kids and anyone else that needed some assisistance.
Now, they need some help from you….
On Sunday afternoon, I received a text from Mike that said “Can u please call me when u have a minute.” I called and we spoke for some time. Here is what I was told (I am going to cut and paste from their Facebook so all of the details are correct….
Family & friends
After a week or so of testing and medical procedures, Jordan has been diagnosed with a heart problem that will prevent his participation in competitive athletics for a minimum of six months and most likely a full year.
A team administered stress EKG a few weeks ago showed some higher pressures inside his heart chambers, and led to an MRI followed by a heart cath procedure this morning in College Station. The immediate diagnosis is pericarditis, which is inflammation and restriction from the pericardium – the sack that contains your heart. Accompanying this is suspected myocarditis which is inflammation of the heart muscle itself. Both are likely caused by a virus in his past, but there is no real way to know the cause, other than it has probably been going on for about two years.
Interestingly, he is in such good shape that he never displayed any telling symptoms. His body compensated through adaptation of his SVC and IVC (the vena cavas) which are the primary veins in and out of the heart. His are literally 2-3 times larger than normal, and it is this development that will limit competitive athletic activities for the foreseeable future. The biggest concern would be a rupture of one of the vena cavas due to hard contact or extreme exertion.
Immediately, he is no longer able to participate in athletics or moderately strenuous activities. He will begin taking two medicines designed to fight the inflammation and repair any fibrosis (scarring) of his pericardium. After six months, he will undergo another MRI to evaluate the progress. How his SVC and IVC’s respond will determine any athletic future for him, but that response and any timeline of response is a complete medical unknown.
Any personal decisions regarding his long term interest in pursuing athletics as well as how he will proceed at A&M are all things we will be discussing over the next weeks and will keep you updated. For now, he will remain a part of the A&M football program at least through the bowl game season.
Please pray for Jordan’s long term health and recovery and for His guidance in our decision making regarding Jordan’s future. Thank you for your concern, and giving us some privacy while we sort through all the facts coming our way over the next several months.
Today, we are thanking God that his participation in athletics helped identify this issue early as well as that he wasn’t taken from us early due to that participation. God still has a plan for Jordan, it’s just gonna take a little time to figure it all out. We’ll keep you posted.
– Mike & Kami
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I would hope that the entire Rubio Long Snapping family can get together and send them serious positive vibes to ensure this is a temporary thing that will be a memory in a year. You can send him a message on Twitter to @JordanFrese or mail a quick note to Jordan at the following address….
Jordan Frese
3645 Wellborn Rd #0732
Bryan, TX. 77801
As you can see, Jordan hasn’t lost his sense of humor:)
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