**Update: News released today from the Penguins indicate that Crosby's injury is not fractured vertebrae but a soft tissue injury that may be aggravating his condition. He's now getting treatment for that.
If you're a doctor, this has got to be your biggest fear. If you're a doctor who also happens to be a team physician/surgeon (which is typically a volunteer position), this is beyond your worst nightmare.
News emerged yesterday that Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby, who has been sidelined the better part of a year with concussion symptoms, also had an un-diagnosed injury to his neck. Reports have not been detailed yet, but word is that Crosby had
sustained fractures to his C1 and C2 vertebrae that have since healed.
That's pretty big news for a guy who most likely has had extensive testing by his Pittsburgh doctors over the past year. Crosby was hit twice over the span of a week in late December, 2010 and early January, 2011, and was diagnosed with a concussion. His symptoms took several months to abate, and it wasn't until late November that he was back playing in games again.
Of course, then he took yet another hit December 5 and his concussion symptoms returned. Since then he's been all over the country to see various specialists about his head. It wasn't until Tom Brady suggested to him, through certain channels, that he went to see this world-renowned spinal specialist, Dr. Bray, in Utah.