ST. LOUIS (KMOX) -  The Cardinals announced that Tony LaRussa wont return until the beginning of the Philadelphia series in St. Louis on May 16th.  

While it’s painful to look at, that red swollen eye is that much more painful for St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa. That discomfort has LaRussa sitting out of tonight’s opener against the Chicago Cubs.

LaRussa will remain at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, where he spent his day off Monday. Cardinals’ Senior Vice President/General Manager John Mozeliak indicated that LaRussa has medical evaluations scheduled for today that will prevent him from reaching Chicago in time for tonight’s game and that his status for the remainder of the week is still to be determined.

Mozeliak indicated that each of the Cardinals coaches will oversee their usual duties during tonight’s game with Bench Coach Joe Pettini serving as acting manager.

UPI/Bill Greenblatt

Nobody’s sure yet what virus is ravaging La Russa’s right eye, but SLU Care ophthalmologist Dr. Sophia Chung tells KMOX News that she’s seen photos of the ailing manager and he’s exhibiting all the signs of “shingles of the eye”.

“Usually the patient has a lot of pain during the acute phase,” Dr. Chung says, “and then the problem is that over the age of 60, fifty-percent of patients have post herpetic neuralgia.  Meaning that they have a lot of pain that lingers on after the rash has gone away.  That pain can last weeks, months, and rarely years.  So it can be very painful.”

Dr. Chung says up to 1 million Americans get shingles every year.

Most of those cases involve the trunk of the body, the waist or chest.  About 20% get it in the eyes.

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