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Posted: 11:26 AM- Jazz forward Matt Harpring received a clean bill of health Wednesday, a welcome relief after a month of uncertainty about the reasons behind a series of episodes in which he has become violently ill.
Harpring underwent a colonoscopy Wednesday and had a biopsy taken of spots in his digestive tract. Doctors were able to rule out everything from cancer to Crohn's disease, Harpring said.
They also confirmed that the anti-inflammatories Harpring takes to play on his surgically repaired right knee were eating away at his stomach lining. After a change in medication last month, Harpring said the ulcers in the lining have gone away.
"Yesterday was very good," Harpring said at Jazz practice Thursday. "They ruled out all the stuff that we were concerned with, which was obviously very good news. So I'm healthy and even the lining, the G.I. tract itself, it's healed.
"I had a lot of ulcers and stuff in there. [The doctor] said yesterday that it looked so much better already."
It was another positive for Harpring in a month filled with them. His and his wife welcomed their first daughter, Kate Eileen, earlier in January and Harpring finally was cleared to play full minutes on his knee.
"It's been very blessed, I have to say," Harpring said. "I've got nothing to complain about."
He played a season-high 27 minutes in Monday's victory over the Los Angeles Clippers and scored 17 points. The Jazz's bench, bolstered by Harpring's contribution, combined for 51 points in the game.
After undergoing a battery of tests in December plus Wednesday's visit, Harpring said he didn't need to see a doctor again for some time.
"I'm sick of needles and getting pricked and poked," Harpring said.