Suns forward Channing Frye never could have imagined life would pile any more on him after suffering a season-ending injury in April, undergoing shoulder surgery in May and enduring two surgeries on each eye for his 4-month-old daughter's cataracts.
There was no imagining he could have a heart virus.
Frye said he expects to miss the coming season due to an enlarged heart caused by a virus that is rare and only treatable with rest, if that even works. It was caught during a recent treadmill stress test that players undergo before each season's October training camp.
Suns cardiologist Dr. Tim Byrne discovered that Frye, 29, had dilated cardiomyopathy and Frye underwent a battery of tests before visiting the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota on Wednesday for a final accord among more doctors.
"It was very shocking and, at the same time, scary," Frye said. "It's not like an arm or knee or an elbow where you're like, 'Maybe I can just rehab this.' It's something that keeps you going. The only time you hear about things going on like that is (Boston's) Jeff Green getting open-heart surgery or (Sacramento's) Chuck Hayes getting a little scare."
The Suns said Frye, who is signed through 2015, will be re-evaluated in December for the possibility of activity but Frye toldazcentral sports several times that he must have six months of rest and expects to miss the season that runs to April.
He said his activity will be limited to yoga and golf.
"I want to take a year off and make sure that I'm OK to play and that I'm not going to do any more damage to my heart," Frye said. "There's no reason to push. It's not worth it for the long run. To be 29 and have a heart issue is very rare. Other than that, I had a clean bill of health. I'm a 120-over-78 blood pressure guy."
Frye will miss out on a season at an age when NBA big men often are at their peak. The hometown product's best seasons have come in Phoenix, where he averaged 11.5 points and 5.9 rebounds and made 434 3-pointers over three years.
He felt like he would be in his best training-camp shape ever, other than the need to rebuild strength in his repaired right shoulder. Frye cleaned up his shooting mechanics and was ahead of schedule for a return to action.
But his heart was pumping out blood at half the capacity of what it had a year prior.
The unpreventable virus attacks the heart muscle severely and quickly, meaning an EKG test before his May surgery would not have indicated an issue.
His heart muscle fibers were stretched, weakening the strength to pump blood.
Frye's condition ran the risk of sudden cardiac death, according to cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Grayson Wheatley of the Arizona Heart Institute. He is not Frye's doctor.
"There's the small but real possibility that he could go into an arrhythmia," Wheatley said. "His heart would beat in an uncoordinated fashion and he'd pass out and die."
In these cases, Wheatley said it is unknown whether the heart will recover from the infection and regain normalcy.
"It's exceptionally rare to have this problem and even more rare in an athlete," Wheatley said. "His heart is going to have to regenerate quite a bit."
Wheatley said it is more common for people in their 20s.
He said the three-month checkpoint mentioned by the Suns would be the earliest possibility to resume activity.
He also warned of a small risk of deterioration, even requiring a heart transplant.
Without Frye, the Suns have Marcin Gortat, Luis Scola, Markieff Morris and Jermaine O'Neal at center and power forward, but could use Michael Beasley at times and camp invitee Solomon Jones.
Frye maintains optimism, looking forward to more time with his wife, Lauren, 2-year-old son, Hendrix, and 4-month-old daughter, Margeaux.
"I'm definitely not done," Frye said. "When it's done and the doctors clear me, I'm going to get right back at it as if nothing's wrong.
"You can't play scared. If you can't play scared, don't get out there. As soon as I get healthy, I'll be more determined to take advantage of the time I have out there."
On the suns.com website, the team is asking for fans to submit well wishes to Frye.