FACING HIS FIRST BATTLE BRUINS RECRUIT KIBBLE FIGHTS MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS.Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer When the mental anguish When connected with a physical injury, includes both the resultant mental sensation of pain and also the accompanying feelings of distress, fright, and anxiety. As an element of damages implies a relatively high degree of mental pain and distress; it is more than mere disappointment, of inserting a needle into his own thigh becomes too much, Robert Kibble kibble baked dough that is crushed or cracked. Prepared usually by extruding and then heating-drying the dough. Used as dry food for dogs and cats. asks his mother to do it. When the recurring headaches become migraines (tool) MIGRAINES - A graphical user interface for evaluating and interacting with the Aspirin neural network simulation. Utilities exist for moving quickly from an Aspirin description of a network directly to an executable program for simulating and evaluating that network. , Kibble puts his head down and tries to sleep. Life is much different for Kibble since he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in late August, no matter how much he tries to keep it the same. Today, Kibble will show his unwillingness to allow this potentially debilitating de·bil·i·tat·ing adj. Causing a loss of strength or energy. Debilitating Weakening, or reducing the strength of. Mentioned in: Stress Reduction disease ruin his dreams. Kibble, a senior cornerback at Westfield High in Houston, will sign a national letter of intent to play football at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX . His is one of 19 letters UCLA expects to receive today. ``It's real hard, but I'm learning to deal with it,'' Kibble said. ``The point was made, I played football, I was good at it, and I didn't want to let this stop me from what I was doing.'' Make that, what Kibble is doing. There are precautions Kibble, 18, and his coaches, must remember. There are issues with stress to the body - particularly related to heat - that all parties must understand. By no means does Kibble want to be treated any differently than anyone else on the football field, in the classroom, or even at the mall. ``It's not part of his vocabulary to do less,'' said Westfield teammate Devin Gregg, a cornerback who is heading to Texas A&M. ``If everybody was doing something, he was taking part. He never made an excuse. He never sat out.'' The diagnosis The past five months have not been easy, and Kibble's future remains uncertain, because multiple sclerosis, a disease of immune dysfunction, has no cure. Kibble's ordeal began when he experienced numbness numbness /numb·ness/ (num´nes) anesthesia (1). Numbness Loss of feeling or sensation. Mentioned in: Topical Anesthesia in his foot during training camp. It got progressively worse, and the numbness moved up his body. Finally, he went for blood tests and MRIs, which showed three lesions, or scars, on his brain. He immediately was directed to the hospital, where a series of tests confirmed multiple sclerosis. ``I was shocked because this disease really doesn't hit African-Americans, in Texas, in the prime of their career, at 18 years old,'' Kibble said. ``When I first got diagnosed, I had a lot of teammates and coaches at the hospital to support me and let me know they were going to be there with me.'' According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Dr. Barbara Giesser, an associate clinical professor of neurology neurology (n  rŏl`əjē, ny–), study of the morphology, physiology, and pathology of the human nervous system. at UCLA's School of Medicine, the disease is diagnosed most frequently in Caucasian women in their 20s and 30s. Kibble took the news in stride Adv. 1. in stride - without losing equilibrium; "she took all his criticism in stride" in good spirits . The diagnosis was much more difficult on his mother, Joyce Webb. ``He didn't let it get him down as much as I probably thought it would,'' Webb said. ``He's a strong-willed child. There's not too much that he lets get to him, or get him down. He just put it in focus and said it was something he would have to deal with the rest of his life.'' The comeback There are four stages of MS. Kibble has the first, which is the relapsing- remitting form. NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association rules prohibit anyone associated with UCLA from speaking about Kibble until the school receives his national letter of intent, so Giesser spoke, in general, about multiple sclerosis sufferers. ``They get an attack ... and it lasts a while, and they get better, and go along for a while, and they might get another attack,'' Giesser said. ``Part of the problem is you wake up in the morning and you never know, `Is today is the day I'm going to have an attack?''' So three times a week Kibble injects medication into his thigh, or his mother Joyce helps. Kibble said he often will take the injection before a prolonged sleep, hoping to snooze through the headaches. ``Taking medicine doesn't cure it, doesn't stop it, doesn't make it go away,'' Giesser said. ``But it certainly makes a significant difference in terms of relapses and nerve damage.'' The very idea of playing football, especially in warm-weather Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, or Houston, seems to contradict one way of reducing symptoms. Said Giesser: ``Heat makes their symptoms worse, but heat does not make the disease worse.'' She said the most common symptom for MS sufferers is fatigue. Intense, hard-hitting practices under the weight of heavy pads in August could be a problem. Gregg, the Texas A&M-bound cornerback, noticed a difference when Kibble returned to practice after missing the season opener. ``At first, he wasn't able to run,'' Gregg said. ``He was having, like, these jolts, because he didn't have any feeling in his legs. He said it felt like there were a whole bunch of needles in his leg. He was trying, but he was hobbling.'' Kibble missed Westfield's first three games, but as his body got used to the medication, his play improved. ``The doctors said to watch him and make sure he stays hydrated hy·drat·ed adj. Chemically combined with water, especially existing in the form of a hydrate. Adj. 1. hydrated - containing combined water (especially water of crystallization as in a hydrate) hydrous ,'' said Corby Meekins, Kibble's coach at Westfield. Kibble finished the season with 95 tackles in 11 games, despite being hampered by a right knee injury. He recently had arthroscopic surgery Arthroscopic Surgery Definition Arthroscopic surgery is a procedure to visualize, diagnose, and treat joint problems. The name is derived from the Greek words arthron, which means joint, and skopein, which means to look at. to repair torn cartilage cartilage (kär`təlĭj), flexible semiopaque connective tissue without blood vessels or nerve cells. It forms part of the skeletal system in humans and in other vertebrates, and is also known as gristle. , but it should not impact his football career. ``Nothing surprises me about him,'' Meekins said. ``He's mature beyond his years. He's always been dedicated, always known exactly what he was working toward in the classroom and on the football field. He's finally reached his goal.'' Kibble, who carries a 3.7 grade-point average, wants to be an orthopedic surgeon. He also is a finalist for the Watkins Award, given annually to the nation's top African-American male high school-scholar athlete. Staying with UCLA Soon after being diagnosed, Kibble told UCLA's coaches - particularly his main recruiter, running backs coach Eric Bieniemy Eric Bieniemy, Jr. (born August 15, 1969 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a former professional American football running back in the NFL from 1991 to 1999. He was an All-American out of the University of Colorado and was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the 2nd round of the , and Bruins head coach Karl Dorrell Karl Dorrell (born December 18, 1963 in Alameda, California) is the first black head coach in the history of the UCLA Bruins college football team, a position he took on December 18, 2002. - about his condition. ``I was nervous about it because I didn't know how they were going to react, if they were going to back off,'' Kibble said. ``I didn't know if I was a liability, or anything. It shows the kind of people they are. They were going to give (the scholarship) to me even if I couldn't play football. That's the kind of people I want to be around.'' Kibble, who committed to UCLA in June, played so well upon his return, several schools tested his loyalty to the Bruins. Oklahoma and Florida tried to recruit Kibble, who at first listened but ultimately told those schools he was sticking with UCLA because it stayed with him. ``I really respect UCLA for doing that,'' Gregg said. ``It really could have hurt him.'' Brian Dohn, (818) 713-3607 brian.dohn(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) KIBBLE (2) Despite being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Robert Kibble plans to sign a letter of intent to play football at UCLA. Kim Christensen/Special to the Daily News Box: (1) COURSES OF MS Source: National Multiple Sclerosis Society The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, a United States-based non-profit organization, and its network of chapters nationwide promote research, educate, advocate on issues relating to multiple sclerosis, and organize a wide range of programs, including support for the newly (2) UCLA RECRUITS |
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