Bryan Cole/ Collegian File Photo

With his career as a Bulldog pitcher on the line, Josh Poytress overcame seven extensive surgeries.

Last summer, sophomore pitcher Josh Poytress was invited to play in the prestigious Cape Cod League. He was slated to compete against some of the best amateur players in the nation.

But then things took an unexpected turn.

It was the third game of the summer season when Poytress’ throwing arm swelled up and he could not throw.

“I started warming up one day and it just happened,” Poytress said. “It just turned blue and started getting swollen.”

At first Poytress thought he pinched a nerve after sleeping wrong, so he decided to rest his arm thinking it would be fine. The next day, he went back out onto the field to play catch with a few teammates and the same thing happened. Poytress decided to take the next day off from baseball.

On his day off, knowing he could not throw a baseball, Poytress went to out to play basketball.

“Even just shooting it [the basketball], it did the same thing,” Poytress said. “So, then I figured there was something wrong.”

After similar results, Poytress went to talk to coaches and after speaking with an athletic trainer, they suggested he consult a doctor.

Upon paying a visit to the doctor, Poytress was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS).

“Thoracic Outlet Syndrome is when a vein or an artery in your shoulder clogs up,” Poytress said.

Poytress had a life-threatening blood clot in his shoulder. The blood clot could have eventually broken loose into his blood stream and into his brain and heart — which would have been fatal.

After being immediately diagnosed with TOS, Poytress was scheduled to have surgery.

The first major surgery lasted 12 hours. Doctors performed a venogram on Poytress, an X-ray for veins to locate a blood clot.

After performing the venogram, doctors removed one of Poytress’ ribs to extract the blood clot. The first surgery was a success, but Poytress would need a second surgery to complete his procedure.

In his second major surgery, doctors opened his sternum and replaced the vein in his shoulder, a procedure that lasted about 10 hours. At the conclusion of the surgery, doctors told Poytress that he would be fine—but he wasn’t.

“The doctor came in the next day and said that the spots that they clamped down on started to close up and clot too and so they had to do another surgery and that really shot me down pretty far,” Poytress said. “Prior to that surgery, they said that was the last surgery I have to do and I’d be fine.”

Just like that Poytress was scheduled to have another surgery to remove the blood clot. This time everything turned out fine and the doctors told him that it would be the last of surgeries for Poytress.

After three major surgeries, doctors wanted to perform another venogram on Poytress to take a picture of his veins. Before performing the venograms, doctors would inject a dye into Poytress’ veins,which caused him to have an allergic reaction.

“I had an allergic reaction to the dye and it closed off my lungs and my throat,” Poytress said. “That was probably the scariest moment I had up there. I couldn’t breathe and I couldn’t tell them I couldn’t breathe.”

Doctors reacted quickly and were able to get Poytress breathing again.

Poytress would go on to have seven total surgeries, four of which were major and three were minor.

Poytress had his first surgery on June 17 and his last surgery in the first week of August. After a month and a half warm of surgeries, doctors told him that he would need to make a final visit in a month for a checkup.

“After the checkup, the doctor said everything looked fine and my scars were healing fine,” Poytress said. “And that in about a month, I could start doing arm exercises and tossing the ball.”

By the last week of August, Poytress regained the ability to throw the ball, but not at full force. Poytress would slowly rehabilitate his arm to be able to pitch again.

His rehab took place with school trainers and the staff at Sierra Pacific Orthopedic Center.

“I had to do a bunch of shoulder exercises with bands and weights,” Poytress said. “Our trainer got me in a program just to work on my exterior rotator and my shoulder because they were pretty weak.”

After months of rehab, Poytress was finally able to start throwing the ball long distance. By early December, he started long toss. As the month went on, he progressed as a pitcher.

“Over winter break, I started to throw bullpens but just light, not at 100 percent,” Poytress said. “I slowly progressed more pitches and more effort until the spring started.”

Poytress was limited to certain types of pitches as he slowly worked his way back onto the mound. Coaches and doctors held him back as he was only allowed to throw fast balls and was told to avoid throwing curve balls and cutters.

By January, Poytress was able to throw at a normal speed and distance. He was able to throw fast balls, curve balls and cutters. Poytress slowly worked his way back to regain his form. He is now one of the starting pitchers in Fresno State’s pitching rotation.

Poytress started his first game since the event at Cape Cod, in the third game of the season this past Sunday against Nebraska. He pitched 5.1 innings, allowed seven hits and five runs while striking out a career-high five batters. Fresno State won 10-9 after 11 innings of play.

“After the game, I went home and thought about it,” Poytress said. “It got me excited, so I was glad that that happened and that I was able to overcome it.”