Zeb sticks his neck out for Knights return this season
BY BRETT KEEBLE
19 May, 2011 12:00 AM
ZEB Taia feels like a million dollars after successful surgery that has made his neck feel "bionic".
The 26-year-old New Zealand international had disc-replacement surgery on the Gold Coast on Monday.
Doctors inserted two artificial discs to replace his C5-6 and C6-7 discs, which were bulging and pressing on his spinal cord and causing pain and numbness down his arms.
Taia faced early retirement when he aggravated the problem making a tackle in the opening minutes of Newcastle's 20-18 loss to the Dragons seven weeks ago but the operation by Dr Matthew Scott-Young has given him hope of playing again in three months.
The only evidence of the surgery are a few stitches and a transparent waterproof dressing on his throat, to the right of his Adam's apple.
If not for the X-rays showing the two titanium alloy discs, it could look like he had just nicked himself shaving and the cut had become infected.
"I saw the X-rays this morning and it looks bionic with the two artificial discs in there," Taia told the Herald yesterday. "When I woke up after the operation, I could move my neck straight away. It was like, 'Whoa, did I even have an operation?' It's amazing how much better I feel.
"They pulled all the muscles and the oesophagus aside and went through the front of my throat and got to it that way. That's how they got the damaged discs out and put the artificial ones in.
"The doc said everything was clean and it was easy to get the old ones. They were a bit compressed - but they were in good condition - then he put the artificial ones in."
Former Knights winger Anthony Quinn had a similar procedure in 2009 and he has made a full recovery and a successful return to the game for Melbourne.
Taia was allowed to leave hospital yesterday but will spend the rest of this week and most of next in a Southport serviced apartment so he can have specialist treatment and visit Dr Scott-Young next Thursday for a follow-up consultation.
If his recovery goes according to plan, Taia hopes to fly home to Newcastle at the end of next week and continue his rehabilitation under the guidance of Knights physiotherapist Anthony Ingram and the club's medical support staff.
"After the surgery, I could feel the strength back in my arms again straight away," he said. "I had pains in my fingers every morning since I did it that day [against the Dragons] and they're all gone now. I can squeeze my hands real hard now without pain.
"There's more of a difference in the left side, because that was something I had for a while, because one of the bulging discs was blocking the nerve root going down my left arm, so I could feel the strength going back into my left arm more than my right.
"But my right side wasn't the concern; it was the left side that was weak. I had problems with the rotator cuff in my shoulder before as well but everything feels like it's gone back to normal."
Taia said his main concern now was not pushing too hard too quickly in his efforts to play again this season.
When fully fit, Taia has been one of Newcastle's most influential forwards since joining the club from the Eels midway through 2007.
He won the Excalibur Club player of the year award in 2008, was a stand-out in 2009 when the Knights made the finals and made his debut for the Kiwis against Australia in the Anzac Test in Melbourne last year.
"The doc said I could be back on the field in three months depending on how my recovery goes, so we'll see what happens as we get closer towards the end of the year," Taia said.
