Traber returns to air after illness

Mel Bracht

Published: April 4, 2008

However, his recent three-week absence due to diverticulitis, an intestinal disorder, barely produced a snicker from Al Eschbach or his other cohorts.

"I think they were afraid they'd start making fun of me on the air, and the next thing you know, I'd be dead,” Traber said. "Then they'd look ridiculous.”

About 10 p.m. March 12 after Traber had packed for a trip to Kansas City, Mo., to cover the Big 12 basketball tournament, he said he felt an excruciating pain as though something had exploded in his stomach. His wife, Julie, rushed him to Norman Regional Medical Center, and the next afternoon, Dr. Rick McCurdy, performed emergency surgency on his colon.

Fortunately for Traber, the attack occurred that night and not the next day when he was his scheduled to drive by himself to Kansas City. Jim's older brother, Dr. Peter Traber, president and CEO of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said Jim would have died if surgery had not been performed right away.

"He had a perforated intestine and infection throughout his abdominal cavity,” said Peter Traber, who as a gastroenterologist is familiar with the illness. "If it wasn't taken care of, it would be fatal.”

Peter Traber, who like Jim was a standout athlete — playing tight end at Michigan — flew to Oklahoma City the next day to help comfort his brother's family.

The long recovery process, including nine days at Norman Regional, has tested Jim's patience. He said he also has passed out three times, which he said was due to medication lowering his blood pressure too much, and will face another surgery in two months when the colostomy bag is removed.

The illness has changed his outlook on life. He said he wants to strive to make sure he'll be around longer to be with his family, which includes Julie, president of Fowler Productions, and five children. One of his sons, Beau, a Norman North High School linebacker, and his three daughters live with him.

"I think it strengthens my faith,” he said. "I think that I've been given a second chance so I know that I need to take advantage of it.”

He said he also has changed his diet, replacing his usual cheeseburgers with fruits and vegetables.

"I've told Al that I've eaten more fruit in the last four days than I've eaten in the last four years,” he said. "This was a wake-up call. I've already lost 24 pounds. I just need to start eating better and trying to live healthier.”

Diverticulitis is more common among people who lack fiber in their diets, Peter Traber said, including "people who don't eat a lot of vegetables and roughage.”

Jim Traber finally made it back on the Sports Animal on Tuesday afternoon with barely enough energy to protest the firing of his friend, Oklahoma State basketball coach Sean Sutton. He hopes to return to his television show, "The Locker Room,” which he co-hosts with Mike Steely, for the season-ending episode at 10:30 p.m. Sunday on KOKH-25.

"I just don't feel like I have enough power to get upset about anything right now,” he said. "Listen, if some idiot calls in and says some stupid things, I'm sure I'll get fired up.”

Some things will never change.

Toolbar sponsored by: David Stanley Ford

Comments