Harpring has nice game despite woes

ORLANDO — Jazz forward Matt Harpring learned late Friday afternoon that he must undergo additional testing as doctors try to determine the cause of gastrointestinal issues he has been battling.

"I heard it right before I came here," Harpring said in a hallway at Amway Arena in Orlando, where he went on to play 18 minutes and score 10 points on 4-of-5 field shooting in Utah's 113-94 win over his former Magic club. "I've got ulcers in the intestines, but there's one part that I think they want to biopsy."

A biopsy involves removal of tissue from the body so it can be microscopically examined by a pathologist, who specializes in diagnosing diseases including — but not limited to — cancer.

Harpring said he will have to soon undergo a colonoscopy, a procedure that helps doctors evaluate the gastrointestinal tract.

He was uncertain when the test would be performed.

Earlier Friday, Harpring had said initial tests ruled out several possible causes of medical problems — "all the things from cancer to everything."

After results from an exam performed Thursday came back Friday, however, the additional testing was ordered.

"I think they believe everything's OK — they just have to make sure it's not some things that they have to rule out," Harpring said about an hour before Friday night's game, his first back after missing three straight.

"I'm a little nervous," Harpring added with a look of concern etched on his face. "I mean, obviously it's my body. It's me. But, I just will feel better when all the tests come back, and we know everything. I was kind of hoping that this one would come back and be, 'Everything's fine; you're good to go.' But the fact that they want to look at one part in particular kind of makes me nervous. But they (doctors) were kind of reassuring Mandy (Harpring's wife, and a doctor herself) that they don't think it's anything, but they have to make sure."

Harpring has vomited violently and subsequently passed out six times during the past 15 months, causing him to miss four games last season and three in the past week.

The most-recent episode occurred late last Friday, when Harpring got sick on a Jazz charter flight from Portland to Salt Lake City and passed out in the airplane bathroom.

"It scares me," he said Friday morning. "I mean, it's just not natural."