Anderson Varejao says he's 'lucky' as he recovers from a blood clot

At first, Anderson Varejao's career season was derailed by a quad injury that required surgery. Then came the bad news. The Cleveland Cavaliers forward was set back when that surgery resulted in a blood clot, one that was much more serious than first thought, Varejao told Yahoo! Sports' Marc J. Spears.

Shortly after the Jan. 10 surgery on his quad, Varejao struggled to sleep because of chest and back pains, and a CT scan determined he had a blood clot in his lung. After another surgery to remove the clot, friends told the Cavs forward that he was lucky to be alive.

"They told me stories like, 'Oh my God, I had a friend who died of a blood clot in their lung,' " Varejao told Yahoo! Sports. "And then somebody else tells me the same thing. ...

"Then you start to think about it and realize that this is more serious than I thought. A week after the surgery I was at home thinking about how I could be gone right now."

So the blow to a season where Varejao was averaging 14.1 points and 14.4 rebounds was suddenly of little importance in relative terms. And life is still a little stressful for Varejao. Still on blood thinners, he told Yahoo! that he fears life's frequent activities. Getting into a car wreck, for example, could threaten Varejao's life.

He's schedule to get off the medications in April, and the original quadriceps injury is coming along nicely.

Varejao told Yahoo! that in the meantime, he'll begin to travel with the team. As for the trade rumors that once surrounded him, the Cavs forward with a year left on his contract said he's happy in Cleveland.