Photo: straitpinkie.com

You never like to see the word “tumor” in any situation. It appears that Kyle Kuric will be undergoing surgery for a brain tumor. From Slamnroll.com:

The player of Gran Canaria had felt some migraines before the game against Laboral Kutxa on Sunday that didn’t allow him to play. Unfortunately, the tests revealed that his has a brain tumor that needs to be removed.

According to GIGANTES, his team informed that Kyle Kuric was diagnosed with a meningioma on his brain. This type of tumor is slow growing, non cancerous and in 85% of cases, benign as well. The American player will undergo a surgery in the following days in Teknon Medical Center in Barcelona, where he is hospitalized. His teammates visited him in order to wish him well on their way to Berlin, where Gran Canaria will play against Alba for Eurocup.

Sending all kinds of thoughts and prayers Kyle’s way. Kuric’s wife gave birth to twins about 3 months ago.

AP Photo/Ed Reinke

Coach Pitino issued a statement on former Louisville Cardinal Kyle Kuric yesterday. It was announced that Kuric will be having surgery to remove a brain tumor.

Statement from Pitino:

“We’ve had some pretty big disappointments in the past few months, but nothing compares to this.  Our prayers and good wishes go out for a healthy and speedy recovery for Kyle.  He’s one of the finest young men that I have had the privilege to coach and our Louisville family’s prayers are with him.”

From UofL:

Kyle Kuric, a former University of Louisville guard/forward who as a senior helped lead the Cardinals to the 2012 NCAA Final Four, will have brain surgery on Thursday in Barcelona, Spain.

The Kuric family has been overwhelmed with messages, thoughts and prayers and are extremely grateful.  Individuals wishing to send cards or notes of support can send to this address and they will be forwarded to Kyle:

Kyle Kuric

c/o Dr. Kuric

4001 Kresge Way  Suite 238

Louisville Ky. 40207

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/csz/2015/11/05/livewith55-11415-sam-madison-kyle-kuric-syracuse

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Thanks for your support and Go Cards!!

I apologize for this just NOW making it onto the site, but here is an update yesterday from UofL after Kyle Kuric’s surgery to remove a brain tumor…

Kyle Kuric Update

Kyle Kuric’s family reports that his surgery in Barcelona, Spain today has been completed and went very well.  The next few days are important and he will be monitored closely.  The family sincerely appreciates all of the support they have received.

Here’s to hoping these next couple of days go well for Kuric and his family.

Kyle Kuric underwent brain surgery on Thursday to remove a tumor on his brain. His dad, Steve Kuric, provided an update on Facebook this morning. Here is what he said:

Kyle is still in the icu at the hospital .. A repeat Ct scan today shows continued brain edema.. He will need aggressive medical treatment. His condition is still very serious. Kyle and his wife and children can use all the love and prayers we can give them right now.. Thank you

Praying for ya Kyle. Get well soon buddy.

While we were on air with the Cardinal Sports Zone show on 93.9 FM this morning, UofL S.I.D. Kenny Klein tweeted out the following update:

Kyles dad Steve posted this pic this morning:

Again, thoughts and prayers out to Kyle and the entire Kuric family. The pic above shows you overcoming one obstacle, time to take out another. Go Cards!

From Kenny Klein:

Kuric Remains in Intensive Care Unit, Condition Unchanged

Kyle Kuric remains in the Intensive Care Unit at Clinica Medico Teknon in Barcelona, Spain and his condition is unchanged.  He is still under close observation and medical treatment.  The Kuric family continues to be very grateful for the prayers and support.

Photo: facebook

From Kyle Kuric’s dad, Steve Kuric, on Facebook:

“Today we have seen further progress with Kyle. The sedation has been discontinued and he is responding more to us. He is off the ventilator and breathing well on his own. He is still in the icu and will remain there for a few more days. We know that he still has a way to go yet, but we are encouraged by the improvement.

As always we are very grateful for all of your thoughts and prayers for Kyle. Thank you!”

solobasketball.com

A great update from Katie Kuric, Kyle’s sister!

Soo incredibly thankful and joyful to be able to say that Kyle is AWAKE, talking, and even eating!!!!!! After the truly terrifying scare he gave us Saturday it is amazing to get our Kyle back. It is such a gift to get to hear him joke and see his unique sense of humor returning. While today has been a positive step in the right direction he will still be in the ICU for a couple days under close observation just to be careful.

I am so thankful for Kyle’s surgeon and medical team here in Barcelona that have done a phenomenal job!
It was touching to see all of the support given by his teammates and even other teams in his basketball family who have been a great support for Kyle and his wife. It’s comforting to see how much they step up to support each other when we live so far from them.

With a humbled heart thank you Jesus for answered prayers and your amazing healing miracle worked in my brother! Psalm 28:7.

And finally I can never fully thank all of our family and friends who somehow messaged me with their prayers and words of encouragement for Kyle and our family. I know I haven’t been able to answer many people’s thoughtful messages but I am extremely humbled by the amount of support we have received and from the bottom of my heart thank you! I can not fully express how much this community all over the world that has lifted us up means to my family and I. Please continue to pray that Kyle would continue to heal quickly and without complications. Thank you all!! PRAISE GOD!!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/csz/2015/11/12/livewith55-111115-paige-sherrardkyle-kuric-update-twica

If you want to listen to the LiveWith55 podcast do the following:

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Thanks for your support and Go Cards!!

Photo: facebook

The following was posted around noon today by Kyle Kuric’s wife, Taraneh Momeni Kuric…

I don’t know where to begin. I want everyone to know how appreciative my family and Kyle are for all your thoughts and prayers. I knew Kyle was loved by many but the amount of support we have received has been surreal. I feel like I owe everyone details.

Kyle started having severe headaches out of nowhere on October 31st. He had zero signs or symptoms before this. He practiced that night even with the pain but the next morning he felt really dizzy and had to sit out the entire game. Anyone who knows Kyle knows that it’s really unusual for him to miss practice much less miss a game. He never complains.

By Monday it got worse and finally Tuesday morning when his team was flying to Berlin he stayed behind in Barcelona and the hospital had a CT scan made. The results were horrifying not only because of the tumor but the amount of swelling he had was unreal. With the help of our basketball family I somehow got to Barcelona to be with him, and his family arrived by Thursday morning so we could have the surgery.

Thursday was what I thought was going to be the hardest day of my life. Everyone was scared, everyone but Kyle. He put on such a brave face not showing a bit of fear. The surgery went very well without any complications. I was so relieved and I wanted to think the worse was over with. Unfortunately Saturday morning his surgeon came in fairly early and told us he was a bit concerned with his symptoms and decided to do a second surgery to check the pressure of his brain.

We waited praying everything was ok but then he came and told us the pressure was lethally high and that his pupils were fully dilated and non responsive. Everything else was a blur. All I remember was screaming and crying as his family mourned with me holding onto each other. I though I lost my best friend and soul mate. I thought my babies were about to grow up without ever having any memory of their father. I wanted to die.

Anyone who knows me knows how attached I am to Kyle and how even to this day when he leaves town for away games I cry saying bye to him. I always feared I’d lose him in some kind of freak plane crash or something as much as the team travels, but not to something like this. I couldn’t understand why God was doing this to me and what I thought was my perfect little family. The surgeons went on and performed a craniectomy and by the miracle of God his eyes reverted and they were able to decompress the pressure from his brain. Just the news that he lived was enough for me I didn’t even care what happened from there at that point. They went ahead and placed him in a medically induced coma and we sat by his side mostly praying and crying.

I spent those two days reading our last text messages and I watched every video and photos I had on my phone praying and praying for him to get better. His wonderful surgeon yesterday decided to slowly start waking him up and he seemed pretty stable but didn’t really open his eyes or talk to us. They did give us the good news that his tumor was a Grade I benign Meningioma.

Well today when they allowed us to enter his room for visiting hours (ICU is extremely strict over here) he was sitting up with eyes wide open and gave us the biggest smile! I can’t begin to explain the adrenaline rush I got and how ecstatic we are! The road to recovery is still going to be very long and I know there will be some bumps ahead but I don’t even care because my baby is alive and I finally saw him smile and look at me for the first time in what seems to be forever!

I just felt like I owed all of you details of the events that took place because I feel like all of your all thoughts and prayers helped guide the talented medical team to do what was needed to be done and for Kyle to fight through it. I haven’t been able to respond to all of your kind messages but please know that I have read all of them and it’s your messages that gave me strength to get through each minute of this. Thank you to every stranger to all my close friends, to all of our basketball family, to the medical team/hospital staff, and to my family and his family. No mother or father should ever have to go through this and not only did they have to feel the pain of almost losing their child but they they held me up and took care of me at those critical moments. GOD IS GOOD!! Please continue to pray because we still have to get through a lot of stuff. I love you all!!

Photo: straitpinkie.com

From Steve Kuric on Facebook:

We are very happy to report that Kyle continues to improve! He is feeling better today although he still feels tired. He has been out of bed and sitting up in a chair today. His appetite is better and he is back to eating a lot. Lol. Kyle was on his computer today and has been visiting with friends. At times he has been laughing and joking with us with his usual sense of humor. He is already trying to negotiate with his surgeon when he can return to basketball !!

Saturday we pleaded for prayers for Kyle at a very critical time and the response to that was just incredible ! We just can’t thank all of you enough. We are so very grateful that all of our prayers have been answered.

AP Photo/Mark Wallheiser

Rick Pitino met with the media on Thursday afternoon to cover a slew of topics. He talks about Kyle Kuric, the two newest signings Frankie Hughes and VJ King, and talks about his current team. The Cards take on Samford Friday night at 7:00.

Great video from TheCrunchZone.com here.

Kyle Kuric’s dad just gave another update on Facebook, and it is another great one! Now Kyle is walking around a little bit and he continues to improve. We appreciate his family giving these updates.

In the past few days, we have seen more progress in Kyle’s recovery. Since he was moved out of the Icu, we have witnessed more improvements in him on a daily basis. He is now walking around the unit with less assistance and is regaining his strength working with physical therapy. He’s been on his computer and constantly on the phone so we think he doing great. A repeat Ct scan today showed much less brain swelling which is very good news. His neurosurgeon was in today and he is very happy with Kyle’s progress and he may allow Kyle to leave the hospital soon !!! He still needs another surgery which is planned in 10 days and after a couple weeks recovery he will be able to return to GC if all continues as planned.

If you missed it, or want to watch it again, here is video of Kyle Kuric addressing the UofL fans at the KFC Yum! Cetner during the North Florida game. This was during a timeout so there wasn’t much time, but it was incredible to see!

Thanks to David Burns for the video.

Kyle Kuric underwent another surgery today, but this one was not a surprise. We knew this one was coming. In fact, it was originally scheduled for last Wednesday but they moved it to today, which I thought was good because then Kyle got to enjoy Thanksgiving with his family. Kuric’s mom Judi posted this update on Facebook.

Surgery is done and went well. Kyle will spend the night in ICU for observation. He will remain hospitalized for the next few days for close monitoring. Thank you all for your continued prayers. Blessings to you all.

Kyle told me on Thanksgiving night that he was able to walk farther and do more and was continuing to improve. So the news has still been positive lately.

AP Photo/Ed Reinke

After undergoing his third surgery, Kyle Kuric says on twitter that he has been released from the hospital! This surgery was planned and was not an emergency, but it is great news to hear that he is on the road to recovery.

Kuric has blogged for us at CSZ in the past and he plans to have something for us again really soon, which is awesome and we can’t wait to share that with you.

Photo: straitpinkie.com

Was scrolling through my Facebook today and seen this video. As you all know, we at CardinalSportsZone have kept in touch with Kyle, his wife and his dad throughout his journey. I am extremely happy to see this video and see he is doing well. I wanted to share this with you. Congrats on getting back to the basketball court Kyle. Go Cards!

This is a very different and unusual March Madness for all of us in the Cardinal family. We have grown accustomed to winning conference tournaments, NCAA tournament games, Final Fours and even an NCAA championship. With all that success we have made the target on our back bigger and bigger. The more you win, the more people outside of your family want to see you fail. They build you up just to tear you down. It’s just a natural reaction. Now that we are not competing in post season play and awaiting NCAA notice of allegations, people are looking for anything and everything to pile on. Everyone wants to be the person to break the story that puts the nail in our coffin. I blame social media for that. I want to take this time to remind you that over the next month or so we will be hearing all kinds of stories, reports and rumors of things that are not true or have no bearing on our current situation. We will see tweets, Facebook posts, memes, quotes taken out of context and unfounded articles that make fun of us, ridicule us or just try to make us angry. We must ignore and endure. I also want to take this time to remind you of the old saying  “the night is darkest just before dawn.”

Even though this March Madness is very different, it is also going to be much the same. It  is the kick off of a very special time of year for me. March Madness followed by the Masters and then it’s the most wonderful time of the year in Louisville. DERBY WEEK! This week is so special for me because it’s the anniversary of when I was given a second chance at life. Yes, I party and celebrate derby week and I celebrate life too. But I also use this week to step back and (excuse the pun) smell the roses. I take some time to myself and just think about how thankful I am for everything I have and all the people in my life. I encourage all of you to do the same. It makes sports seem irrelevant and might help you get through this rough road ahead as Cards fan.

I am proud to say that Kyle Kuric has inspired me to want to help people again. You see Kyle and I both suffered and recovered from brain tumors. Although our paths were very different we both ended up in the same position. A position where we needed all the support and payers we could get. All we had was faith and hope. A position of desperation and uncertainty. Most of you know Kyle’s story and I am not going to give you all my details (we would be here all day) but I can tell you that after recovery you have a new outlook and respect for life.  I was called an inspiration and I wanted to use that to help others. For some I was a symbol of survival and hope. One day after I was completely rehabbed, I was stopped by someone I barely knew and he said to me “My wife is in the hospital battling a brain tumor. Seeing you walk past me everyday gives me hope that she too will someday walk again.” It felt great to give him that bit of hope and I was happy that he could draw strength from me. A few weeks later I found out that his wife had passed. I felt as though I had given him a false sense of hope and that her passing was twice as hard on him because of the optimism I had given him. At that point I decided not to use my story to help others but rather just to celebrate my life with those closest to me.

After hearing about Kyle’s condition, I was in shock. It brought back so many memories and emotions. I followed his situation closely. Every update took me on a roller coaster of emotions because I know how things can change in the blink of an eye when it pertains to swelling of the brain. I knew at that point I had to do something. I could no longer sit back and not offer to help. Along with writing an open letter to all U of L fans asking for prayers, I sent his wife a private message offering my support and my faith in his full recovery. I was not expecting a response because Cardinal fans went to the extreme to support Kyle and his family and there is no way she could respond and thank everyone. She did respond and was very grateful for all the support not only from me but all of Card nation.

Following Kyle’s story and watching the impact it has made on the Cardinal family, made me realize that I can’t help everybody but if I can help at least one person then it is worth the effort. So I want to help you. I will not be able to get the Cards into the NCAA tournament nor will I be able to lessen the sanctions that will be handed down from the NCAA but I may be able to offer a perspective that can help you get through it or even help you with one of your obstacles in life.

I would like to ask everyone to remember that sports are merely a distraction of real life and are ultimately a form of entertainment. Not watching The Cardinals play in the post season sucks. It simply sucks but I promise you I will find something productive to do with my “self-imposed” free time this March. Taking this time to step back and take inventory of where my life is and being thankful for all the blessings that I have earned and that have been bestowed upon me will help me overcome my March Sadness and any other negative situation that life can unexpectedly throw at me. It’s been said that people who regularly practice gratitude by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they’re thankful for experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, express more compassion and kindness,  sleep better, and even have stronger immune systems. That seems worth the time. I encourage all of you to do the same because life is bigger than basketball. I hope it helps you!

As always, GO CARDS!