… Strong support from his family helped Phegley deal with the setback. He also learned more about how the game is run after being forced to the sideline, where he watched intently and studied the decisions made by his managers and coaches.
Most of Phegley’s treatment took place at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, and Phegley gave huge credit to the White Sox organization for its ongoing support. As an up-and-coming White Sox prospect, Phegley was scheduled to take part in the Arizona Fall League so that he might pick up missed at-bats, but instead of trying to get the ITP under control while also playing baseball, Phegley went home to focus on getting well.
His spleen was removed during surgery on Nov. 5, a process that caused Phegley’s platelet count to automatically spike. If post-surgery blood work had revealed that his platelet count had plummeted again, that would indicate that there still was a problem. But his platelet count not only didn’t drop, it elevated further, as evidenced by tests taken in early December, which leads an ecstatic and encouraged Phegley to believe “all is well.”
“At the beginning, it was so surreal that it didn’t hit me that it was that big of a deal. You have this life-threatening illness, but you feel 100 percent normal,” said Phegley, who has been working out for the past month and only has to guard against certain bacterial infections that could do damage without the counteracting antibodies produced by his spleen. “It happens to thousands of people per year. It’s like a genetic thing.
“Some people I talk to, they get strep throat, and their system will do this. You can get a common cold, and it happens.” …
That’s absolutely fantastic!
