Head of Medical and Sports Science Stijn Vandenbroucke issues an update – in association with Spire Roding Hospical...
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest From the Treatment Room after a one-week international break!
We are coming to the end of the break now and we had some very good performances from our players who were on international duty.
We had a good number of players representing their countries and it is always an anxious time waiting for them to return to Chadwell Heath, as sometimes the exact details of injuries and illnesses can be difficult to come by when they are in far-flung locations.
Dimitri Payet and Darren Randolph were back with us and trained on Thursday, while Cheikhou Kouyate and Victor Moses were back on Friday morning after their respective AFCON qualifiers with Senegal and Nigeria.
For the remaining members of the squad, we had a good balance between rest and training and had an unbelievable event with the Mark Noble Testimonial, where we were pleased that everybody came through the match and the penalty shootout unscathed!
We have two injuries at the moment with Sam Byram and James Collins, but both players are close to making a return and will train with the first-team next week.
We will be raising awareness for the DT38 Foundation at the Crystal Palace game on Saturday, and as a medical department who knew, greatly liked and worked with Dylan Tombides during his time at the Club, this is something that is very important to me and my staff.
Dylan was an amazing young man who never stopped smiling, no matter how difficult or painful his treatment became. He is an inspiration to all of us and his legacy lives on in the charity set up in his memory.
We have also organised a testicular cancer awareness day with Spire Roding Hospital – the Club’s Official Private Hospital – and Dylan’s mother Tracy Tombides, where fans will be invited to attend a mobile screening suite outside the Boleyn Ground on Saturday and be tested if they have any concerns whatsoever. We will also be offering ultrasound scans on site as well.
As a man and as a medical professional, I feel it is very important to screen for these things. Unfortunately we have seen what can happen when diseases like testicular cancer are not diagnosed early enough and we want to save lives in the future.
Stijn Vandenbroucke
Head of Medical and Sports Science