{"id":738573,"date":"2026-06-15T19:19:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T19:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/738573\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T19:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T19:19:11","slug":"university-of-illinois-basketball-player-makes-full-recovery-after-thoracic-outlet-syndrome-surgery-at-northwestern-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/738573\/","title":{"rendered":"University of Illinois Basketball Player Makes Full Recovery After Thoracic Outlet Syndrome Surgery at Northwestern Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n \"Jason <\/p>\n


\n Jason in the hospital photo 1 \n <\/p>\n


\n <\/a> <\/p>\n

First Signs Something Wasn\u2019t Right<\/p>\n

Jakstys first realized something was wrong the day before the University of Illinois men\u2019s basketball game against the University of Maryland on Jan. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

While sitting in class, Jakstys experienced discomfort in his left arm that stood out from typical soreness associated with basketball. Despite those symptoms, he played in the game the next day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI noticed my shoulder was kind of bugging me, but, being a basketball player, you play through it,\u201d Jakstys said.<\/p>\n

The day after the game, the pain had intensified, signaling that the issue was more serious than a routine injury. While weightlifting after a light practice, Jakstys\u2019 left arm was discolored.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy arm just starts bulging up, becomes red, veins were bulging,\u201d Jakstys said. \u201cGuys are looking at it, like that’s kind of weird. I knew something was wrong, but I still finished practice and then coach said, \u2018Yeah, we need to get this looked at.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

An ultrasound determined it was a blood clot and Jakstys was immediately put on blood thinners. Further evaluation led to the diagnosis of venous thoracic outlet syndrome.<\/p>\n

About Thoracic Outlet Syndrome<\/p>\n

Thoracic outlet syndrome occurs when blood vessels or nerves are compressed in the space between the collarbone and first rib.<\/p>\n

In Jakstys\u2019 case, the condition involved compression of the subclavian vein, known as venous thoracic outlet syndrome. This can lead to blood clots, swelling and discomfort in the arm and shoulder. \u201cJason being an athlete, with repetitive overhead and upper body activity, contributed to this development,\u201d Dr. Arndt said.<\/p>\n

Venous thoracic outlet syndrome is rare, but it occurs more often in high-level athletes whose repetitive overhead movements can compress blood vessels and threaten their ability to compete.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was definitely surprised and devastated. I put in two years of hard work and then, in a matter of seconds, my season was over,\u201d Jakstys said.<\/p>\n

‘;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jason in the hospital photo 1 First Signs Something Wasn\u2019t Right Jakstys first realized…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":738574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,356577,8203,356576,231769,85],"class_list":["post-738573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-canning-thoracic-institute","tag-carousel","tag-central-dupage-hospital","tag-northwestern-medicine","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/738574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}