MIAMI — Chris Bosh continues to recuperate at a South Florida hospital and is making solid progress after being diagnosed Saturday with blood clots on his lung, according to Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra.
During his pregame media session on Monday night, Spoelstra said Bosh will leave the hospital soon, but he had not been told an exact date.
Speaking after a morning shootaround session ahead of Monday’s game against the visiting Philadelphia 76ers, Spoelstra said Bosh was in good spirits and doing well.
“Chris knows that he has an extended family here,” he said. “We’re not just going to see him down the line. We’ll be with him every day. His family will be with him. So going through something that can be very scary, it helps when you’re part of an organization and a community that is supporting him.”
His teammates are there for him as well. Udonis Haslem is in a unique position as not just Bosh’s teammate but also as a player who was diagnosed with blood clots during the 2010-11 season. He described it as “one of the worst pains I ever felt, I just couldn’t breathe. It was very, very uncomfortable.”
Haslem was recovering from foot surgery when he started to experience symptoms but soon made a complete recovery and didn’t miss any additional time away from basketball.
“‘Just be patient and it’s going to get better,'” said Haslem on what he told Bosh. “I was telling him about my situation and how I learned to inject myself with blood-thinners, how I was having fun with playing doctor on myself.”
Haslem also talked about the painstaking process it took to get back to full health.
“It’s another process after you start the blood-thinners and after you get off the blood-thinners to get your blood levels correct,” he said. “I had to see the doctor once a week to check my blood levels and make sure it was thin enough and make sure it wasn’t getting too thick. My father also had a blood clot so it could also be something that just runs in my family, you just never know.
“Even when I was lifting weights, I had to be real careful because anything can cause bruising or some sort of internal bleeding. You just have to be careful about everything you do.”
Also on Monday, the team set up a special site at www.GetWellCB.com where Heat fans can submit their personal messages for Bosh. They are also encouraging fans to use the hashtag #GetWellCB as well as his handle @chrisbosh when sending their well wishes via social media.