Dinos forward hoping to slam dunk muscle disease
It all started at the beginning of November when the University of Calgary Dinos opened their season on the road in Brandon.
Matt Letkeman woke up weak and unable to move.
“I kept it to myself, ignored it,” recalls the six-foot-seven power forward from Abbotsford, B.C. “And it started to be OK. I kept pushing it and trying to get more movement. I played that night but I went to sleep and I remember waking up and I was just in excruciating pain. I couldn’t sleep.
“I couldn’t even bring food to my mouth.”
For a 20-year-old athlete — the 2010-11 Canada West rookie of the year that has been active and healthy all of his life and had just finished playing for Canada on the under-19 team — every day movement had become a struggle. And things got worse. On Sunday during the Dinos’ shootaround practice, he became weaker and weaker and had trouble with the ball. But he stayed quiet.
After all, he could still walk, talk, and was breathing.
“I just thought it was muscle soreness and, whatever, I’d play through it,” he said. “I couldn’t even put my jersey or my headphones on. Guys had to help me.
“Warming up, it was painful all the time.”
Post-game, Dinos head coach Dan Vanhooren knew something was up.
“Everyone was kind of happy that we’d won and I looked over and Matt said, ‘I can’t lift my arms,’ ” he said. “He’s 235 pounds. If you can’t lift a basketball, there’s something wrong.”
When the team returned to the Jack Simpson Gym to prepare for their home opener the following weekend, Vanhooren finally sent him to the hospital with assistant coach Jackson Parker.
After a ton of tests and blood work, it was determined he had elevated CK (creatine kinase) levels and was at risk of kidney failure. Doctors diagnosed him with a rare case of rhabdomyolysis — an occurrence which is usually suffered by sedentary elderly as their muscles deteriorate — and polymyositis which causes thinning of the membrane of his muscle cells.
“They were explaining and using all these big words I didn’t understand,” Letkeman said. “They were talking about my CK levels and I didn’t know what they were.
“I was like, ‘OK can I go now? I have my home opener tomorrow and I want to play. Am I done here?’”
The doctor was in disbelief and, finally, the nurse said: “Look kid, you’re not healthy. You’re not going to play. You’re very sick and we’re worried about your kidneys and permanent damage.’”
Letkeman is obviously a physical presence on court. The condition, however, was breaking down his muscle fibres.
Normal activity, such as walking, turned into a major workout. As a result, he lost 45 pounds of mostly muscle.
Basically, as Vanhooren puts it, it needed to clear his system; it was like having a bad cold but entered his muscle system instead of his respiratory system.
After seeing a number of doctors and specialists, it was determined that time and rest was the prescription.
“Basketball was one thing, but I had to drop out of school, too,” Letkeman said. “You really take those things for granted.”
Keeping faith, Letkeman improved and in May, he was able to travel to Rwanda where he and a handful of other Dinos’ student-athletes spent time with the local youth.
In terms of his eligibility, he’s still considered a secondyear player heading into 201213 and Monday was his first practice back with the Dinos, as they prepare for their annual Battle of the Border pre- season tournament starting next Tuesday.
They’re hoping he’ll be ready to play by then which, given his past challenges, is quite remarkable.
“He went through quite a season,” Vanhooren said. “The unique benefit of what he had is that it can make you a better athlete ... you have the opportunity to re-train your fast-twitch muscle fibres. So, we kind of took that approach that this is an opportunity to improve his athleticism. He’s much quicker now and has very good jumping ability.
“I think he’ll continue to grow from a cardiovascular perspective. His fitness is going to continue to improve.” NOTABLES: The Dinos are hosting Wyoming, Montana State, the University of Alberta, and the Mount Royal University Cougars, which are their new Canada West rivals this coming season ... U of C opens the tournament against Wyoming next Tuesday.