shocking news: Kim Mulkey got emotional after finding out that two of her greatest players had officially decided to terminate their contracts.
Kim Mulkey, the head coach of LSU women’s basketball, stated that curiosity and a little tingling on the tip of her finger led to her having a potentially life-saving heart surgery this summer.
On Monday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Mulkey and the reigning champs formally started practicing in front of spectators. The Tigers are supposed to receive CPR instruction on Tuesday. Even before her technique, Mulkey always believed that it was a crucial ability for her athletes to acquire.
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Mulkey had two stents inserted into a coronary artery that was 95–99% blocked in late June. Mulkey was unaware that she had a cardiac condition because she had not shown any signs. She had merely visited the doctor originally for a minor, bothersome problem, but a series of tests eventually revealed the clogged artery.
Mulkey remarked, “I never even felt horrible.” “I’m still a little shocked that we stumbled into this. I would thus advise everybody over 50 to undertake a stress test.
“Some of my former teammates have assured me that we will succeed. I share these things because of that. If it’s something that can benefit others, I’m all for it. It serves as a powerful reminder to all of us who doubt that it will ever happen to us.”
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For Mulkey and the Tigers, things are now moving at a fast pace. They bring back standouts including SEC freshman of the year Flau’Jae Johnson and All-American and Final Four most outstanding player Angel Reese. In addition, LSU welcomes a highly anticipated freshman class and two elite transfers, Aneesah Morrow and Hailey Van Lith. The Tigers’ season opens in Las Vegas on November 6th versus Colorado.
Mulkey received the largest contract extension ever for a women’s basketball coach when the LSU board of supervisors authorized a 10-year, $36 million contract extension earlier this month.
But in May, she was sitting in her Baton Rouge, Louisiana, home a month after leading LSU to the NCAA championship. After the season, everything was peaceful and Mulkey felt “a little bored.” For months, she had noticed tingling at the tip of her left middle finger; not enough to be bothersome, but enough to be noticed. After making the decision to get it examined, carpal tunnel syndrome was the expected diagnosis.
Mulkey did, however, request a scan of her neck at the same visit to ensure everything was in order following a disc replacement surgery she underwent in 2018 while still serving as Baylor’s head coach. They said it checked out OK for her. However, after a few days, a radiologist called to report that additional analysis of her X-rays revealed the presence of plaque in her carotid arteries. She then visited a cardiologist.
“He said, let’s put you on the treadmill and do a stress test,” recalled Mulkey. “Then he stated, ‘It appears like there is a small obstruction going on; I don’t like the way this isn’t pumping faster. We must perform a cath.”
The official description of the technique is a tandem stent placement to the left anterior descending artery assisted by intervascular ultrasonography after a left cardiac catheterization with coronary arteriograms. The greatest coronary artery is called the “LAD”.
Mulkey, who turned 61 on May 17, already had a few excursions scheduled, including a May 26 visit to the White House to receive recognition for her team. The cardiac operation was therefore slated for the end of June. If she experienced chest symptoms prior to that, she was prescribed nitroglycerin tablets.
