According to a story in the Reno Gazette-Journal, an elevated heart rate and fatigue caused Hudson, 50, to visit an emergency room a couple months ago.
After a battery of tests, it was determined he had atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm characterized by rapid and irregular beating. It would first be treated with medication. That helped, but it didn't fix the issue. So, once Nevada's season ended, he'd get an ablation.
That's a fairly routine, although invasive, surgery in which abnormal heart tissue is melted away. Hudson went in for that surgery Feb. 25. It would be a 45-minute procedure and he'd be good to go.
"I went into the hospital, they put me to sleep and I woke up and said, 'How did it go?'" Hudson said. "They said, 'We didn't do it.' I said, 'Why not?' The doctor said, 'We found a blood clot in your heart.'"
Doctors in Reno feared the blood clot could break off and travel to Hudson’s brain, so Hudson was referred to a specialist in California. Doctors there caught the blood clot before it broke off and stopped the atrial fibrillation.
Hudson will be on blood thinners for at least a year and the normally boisterous coach will have to be fairly tame while the Wolf Pack practices this spring. He’ll be able to return to recruiting in May and will likely be back on the sideline in the fall.
"It puts things into perspective very quickly," Polian told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "The fans and everybody, I don't think they understand the level of commitment the coaches and players give. People tell you it's not life or death, but we take this very seriously. When you see something like that, you take a step back and remember what's really important. Obviously, being a husband and father is the most important thing for him."
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
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From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Nevada OL coach Ron Hudson to miss spring football after open-heart surgery
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