Matt Light on his newest title and the challenges of living with Crohn’s disease
Light has been named “Man of the Year’’ by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.
Matt Light and Bill Belichick at the press conference where Light announced his retirement.
For Matt Light the ultimate super bowl is finding a cure for Crohn’s disease.
The former left tackle for the New England Patriots was diagnosed with the chronic disease in 2001 just as he was beginning his career in the NFL. He went on to play for 11 seasons and win three Super Bowl championships with the Patriots.
Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation of the digestive tract. The condition affects about 700,000 people in the United States, according to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.
The foundation has named Light “Man of the Year,’’ and he will be honored Friday. We caught up with Light to learn more about his experience with Crohn’s.
Boston.com: What lead up to your diagnosis?
Matt Light: Like a lot of people, it was misdiagnosed. If you’re looking at things through one set of lenses, it’s very apparent. But if you’re not, it’s a, “Oh, it’s a stomach ache, it’s the flu, it’s just a little bit of a hiccup, it will go away,’’ kind of thing.
For me, it started out when I was in college at Purdue. I had severe abdominal pain. They thought it was creatine, or something that was happening with my diet and working out and playing football and the whole nine. Then it kind of went away, and I’d always have little things but nothing big. And nothing that really pointed to Crohn’s.
When I got to New England in 2001, I was busy trying to figure out the pace of life as an NFL player and was kind of having some issues with stomach pain again and not feeling right, feeling run down. Then I had something happen that was unmistakable that I had to go see a doctor.
When you start loosing blood, it’s like, “OK this is a bad deal.’’
Crohn’s is a very private thing, so I’d never even heard the name.
How did you feel when you were diagnosed? How were you thinking it would impact, or not impact, your career?
At the time, I really didn’t think about that too much. It was just, “Hey here’s where I’m at and here’s what I’ve got to get done.’’ Just “What do I need to do to get back on my feet?’’ So I didn’t really think about it that much.
After his diagnosis, Light said he opted not to treat his new condition.
The options all were take some horrible drugs that were going to hurt your body and break you down and make your bones more brittle. I was like, “Well that’s not going to work in my field.’’
So I chose to do nothing. I chose to attack it with my diet. Eat healthier. Not eat — at the time what was considered bad — greasy food and this, that, and the other. What we know now is that it doesn’t necessarily have to do certain greasy foods or things that are “bad for you.’’ There’s a lot more to it than that.
So I kept going and doing what I did. Playing the game of football and living life. It just got to a point in 2006 that I just couldn’t do it anymore.
I went to answer the phone when I was in Ohio during the offseason and the pain hit me so hard it knocked me off my feet. I’d never experienced anything like that before. I went into a little bit of shock and sat there until the ambulance crew arrived to rush me to the hospital. I had inflammation that spread. It was so bad that it spread to my appendix, and my appendix was getting ready to rupture. I just let it go so long that it became an issue, not just for my intestines and the Crohn’s type stuff, but also my appendix.
Light had to have his appendix and 13 inches of his intestines removed.
I eventually went back to work. It was kind of a crazy time and a lot on my family and a lot on me. I had a lot of complications due to the surgery — thought I was out of the woods and then damn-near died and all that good stuff. But you know, like a lot of people who battle Crohn’s , there’s a lot of ups and downs.
Did your diagnosis change or impact the way that you approached your work, time on the field, training for the field?
Early on, sure. It was was a long recovery to get back. And long, meaning, I had the surgery in June, but I actually didn’t end up playing until the last preseason game in August. So relatively quick. But I lost 46-48 pounds — I basically didn’t eat for a month. So there were a lot of things that came with that. But overall, the recovery process was pretty unique. Because once the incision was good enough, I was able to go back in and do what I needed to do.
Has your approach to, or relationship with, your diagnosis changed since you’ve retired?
Yeah, quite a bit has changed on that. When I first was diagnosed I didn’t take anything. Then I had a major surgery and did pretty well for a while. Then it all started to come back about two or three years later, which the doc said was probably going to happen. You remove the really bad section, but the disease is still there. It continued to get worse, and I never took anything.
I retired in 2012, and at that point I’d kind of gotten tired of fighting it. It’s an ugly disease in some aspects. The pain – I never really worried about that – it was just all the other ways that the disease expressed itself.
So I decided to go meet with some specialists. I wasn’t playing football anymore, so I didn’t have to worry so much as to what the effect would be for running into fat people on a daily basis. So it kind of opened up things.
And the treatments had come a long way. I started taking one drug and it was working great at first, living as normal a life as you can live and then the body kind of fought that off. Crohn’s is an overactive immune system, and it’s definitely a symptom of how we live life today, what we eat, and environmentally what we come into contact with. So your body can find ways to overcome stuff, and mine did. I beat that, and I went to another drug, and I’ve been on that drug ever since.
Ever since I’ve retired, I’ve been on the pharmaceuticals. And ultimately I’ll get off those. I’ve been lazy in one sense where you get complacent because the drugs do the job, but we all know, as we should know, you never want to be dependant on something that’s synthetically derived or just administered through a needle or pill form. You want to be able to find ways that are much more earthy than that.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed with the research and groups like CCFA and what they’re doing to fund cures and find ways to fight this thing in a more organic way will come to pass. Then at that time maybe I can get off this kind of stuff. But that said, the drugs definitely make day-to-day life a heck of a lot easier. And when they work, it’s a great thing for people who suffer with a pretty ugly disease.
Matt Light (72) during a 2008 game against the Dolphins.
Do you have any tips for people fighting Crohn’s?
The best thing you can do is grab all the information you can. Use the Internet, use your local doctors, but really seek the people that see the patients. Again this is my advice — I’m not a doctor. Never settle for “This is the only way to do it, this is your only option.’’ If you’re dealing with a doctor who says, “This is the only way to go,’’ then you’re in the wrong spot. Make sure you’ve got the right team, the right people.
How does it feel to be named “Man of the Year’’?
While it’s an honor to have the recognition, it’s more of an honor to share the stage with three young people that I think are going to be a lot of fun for people to see — what their battle’s been and help them share their story. And just let people know that, “Hey, look, I was able to come back from a really ugly situation and surgery and I was able to go back and continue to play at a high level and win a Super Bowl even after some pretty trying times.’’
People need to hear that because there’s a time in everybody’s fight with Crohn’s that you feel like throwing in the towel or kicking the big guy upstairs because you’re angry at the world and you don’t understand why it’s you. But there’s a reason that we all have this.
It’s terrible for everybody, but when I see young people going through this I just always tell them that, “All your classmates, all your peers, they’re going through life and their struggles pale in comparison to yours. And yet, you’re going to keep up with them and you’re going to continue the fight and you’re going to be more of a fighter. You’re going to accomplish things at level that a lot of people won’t truly understand because of how much you have to put into fighting the normal battle of life on top of your battle with Crohn’s .’’
What are your thoughts on the Patriots this season, compared to the team in 2007?
Well, I never compare teams. That’s like comparing kids. So you’re going to upset some, and you’re never going to be able to do it justice. Look, the team this season, they’ve got the same goal that we had in 2007. And that’s to get to, and win, a Super Bowl. Other than that, they’re drastically different.
I would say this — that the excitement level in New England right now for a group of guys that have come together very quickly, very young in some areas, a lot of experience in others, and a lot of adversity with the injuries and things of that nature, but still competing at really the highest level within the league. That says something. Especially in the midst of everything that they had to deal with on the offseason. All that stuff. It speaks volumes to the organization, the coaches, the players, the personnel and really just the overall corporate mindset, if you will, of the New England Patriots.
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