Matt Pozsgai didn’t score a point in his first basketball game of the season. His shooting touch was a bit rusty.
But there was no doubt he was the star of that Feb. 4 game. The crowd of friends and relatives who showed up at the Clark County Family YMCA that afternoon was proof of that.
Just lacing up the basketball shoes and joining childhood friends in a YMCA basketball league was a victory for the 17-year-old. Basketball has been a part of Matt since before he was born.
So has cystic fibrosis, a hereditary, life-shortening disease that can impact the ability to breathe normally and to digest food properly. Matt was diagnosed at 4 months old, and except for a couple of hospital stays was pretty healthy through eighth grade.
“As CF goes he was probably one of the most healthy kids at his clinic for a while,” said Mary Pozsgai (pronounced POSE-guy), Matt’s mother.
Matt was born into a basketball-loving family. Pregnant with Matt, Mary wore a T-shirt to Blazers games that said “Future Blazers fan.” Matt and a group of friends played together in the Hot Shots Youth Basketball League for five years, starting in second grade.
Like all kids, Matt and his friends dreamed about growing up to play basketball in high school and beyond.
Shortly before he was to begin his freshman year at Skyview High School, Matt’s path took a devastating detour. A high fever during a family camping trip was the first warning sign that a serious atypical microbacteria had invaded Matt’s body.
The years since have been a battle to get, then keep, Matt healthy enough to attend Skyview High School, to learn to drive, and, finally, to return to basketball.
The first challenge for doctors at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland was to correctly identify the organism causing the initial infection. That process takes about six weeks, and Matt’s initial battle lasted into the winter on 2010.
“He was pretty sick and in the hospital that January,” Mary said. “Since then, he’s been in seven other times because of different bacteria taking advantage of weakened system.”
During those hospital stays, Matt’s room No. 33 at Doernbecher was a busy place. Friends were often there playing video games until nurses kicked them out. Matt made the best of it by joking with nurses and doctors.
“I’m pretty sure I’m everyone’s favorite up there.” Matt joked.
“Most people go to the hospital to rest. Matt has to come home to rest. The hospital is party time,” Mary added.
That approach was not silly. It was a way to keep Matt looking beyond the intravenous drugs flowing into his body.
“When I was going to the hospital a lot, I had a pick line (for IV drugs) in my arm for like 14 months so I really couldn’t do any physical activity,” Matt said. “I was just focusing on getting through the treatment so I could actually do stuff.”
For the Pozsgai family including sixth-grade twins Adam and McKenna the challenges presented by Cystic Fibrosis are an everyday reality.
“We all just go into a survival, do-what-you-need-to-do mode, especially when Matt’s been in the hospital,” Mary said. She spends a lot of time at Doernbecher when Matt is hospitalized.
McKenna and Adam, she said, “have been really good about not complaining, and picking up the slack.”
Matt’s battle with that rare bacteria is ongoing. But he improved significantly after February of 2011 when doctors inserted Gastrostomy Tube to improve his nutrition and help fight infections.
The G-Tube is wrapped for protection when Matt plays basketball. He has an inhaler at the ready during practices and games, and he usually must rest after games.
When Matt is relaxing at home these days, he has a nice space to hang out. The Make-a-Wish Foundation turned part of the Pozsgai garage into “Matt’s man cave” complete with flat screen TVs, lounge chairs, a pinball machine and plenty of sports memorabilia.
“You go to Disneyland and then it’s in your past and eventually the memories will fade. This is something I can keep enjoying,” Matt said.
Each night while he sleeps, Matt is taking in liquid nutrition through the tube attached to his stomach. When he wakes up, he has 30-45 minutes of treatment where he inhales vaporized medicines. Then, there are breathing exercises that take about 10 minutes to help clear his lungs.
Before bed each evening, there are three more medications to be inhaled over about an hour.
“I do my treatments right when I get up and before I go to bed so I have the time during the day to hang out with friends, so it doesn’t impact what I’m doing,” Matt said. “For me, this is normal.”
Mary and Steve try to give their son as much normalcy as they can. Like letting Matt get his driver’s license in November of 2010.
“It’s one thing, one part of his teenage-hood that he could achieve,” Mary said. “So many things have been taken away from him. This was something he could do.”
In addition to taking Matt away from basketball, the fight has put him behind in school. He attended Skyview for 28 days of his freshman year and for the last three months of his sophomore year. With the help of teachers at Doernbecher and tutors, Matt has done his best to keep up. He remains several credits behind his fellow juniors, but still hopes to graduate with his Skyview class in 2013.
He would also like to be well enough to try out for the Skyview basketball team next season.
For now, he is staying in the game he loves by refereeing games for the Hot Shots program and reveling in the chance to play at the YMCA alongside friends who have been his teammates for almost 10 years.
Matt said he appreciated the crowd that came to support him in that first game. And he is thrilled to know he can still play the game a little.
“It was awesome. For me, it’s just like riding a bike except for the shooting. I crashed the shooting bike,” Matt said. “Most parts of the game were just natural. I was surprised. I could dribble the ball. My ball-handling was just as good, if not better.”
His team has played five games, with two left on the schedule. Matt has scored 19 points. His team has three wins, including one over a team of fellow Skyview High School students that was especially fun.
Matt’s stamina has improved, but he must go home to rest after each game. Mary hopes playing basketball might improve Matt’s lung function, but it is too soon to know if that will happen.
For Matt, though, basketball is great therapy.
“It’s just a lot of fun to be out there playing again,” he said.
