That's because there are few things in life more sobering than being told you have cancer. Even if it's prostate cancer, which is among the most curable varieties of this disease.
We all have a few days ingrained in our memories. Weddings. Childbirth. The publication of your first book (what did you expect from a writer?). Being told a few years ago that I had prostate cancer is high on that list.
I had an inkling something was up. Two weeks after I had a PSA test, my doctor wanted to do a biopsy. Not long after that, I was home on a Thursday afternoon when the phone rang and I got the news: I had a small but virulent spot that needed to be addressed.
My doctor went through the options with me and my wife (a nurse who knew a lot more than I did). He presented the options, told me that I was healthy enough that surgery wasn't needed and suggested a course of medication that would prepare me for radiation treatment that would take about nine weeks.
It wasn't fun. The medication had some unpleasant side effects, and the radiation treatments forced some schedule-juggling because they began late in the regular season and continued into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I had one day when I scrambled to finish my off-day stories and raced to the laboratory just in time to get my daily dose of radiation.
Players play hurt at playoff time, and I went through treatment without missing a day. The radiation and follow-up treatments have taken a toll, but they did the job, and I'm happy to say the most recent checkup showed no trace of the cancer. Being told I was cancer-free was one of the sweetest things I've ever heard.
And yet I know what I went through has changed me.
To look at me then and now, you probably wouldn't notice much difference. But I can remember getting exceedingly emotional last year reading about what New Jersey Devils center Brian Boyle went through battling leukemia (his wife, Lauren, is this year's Hockey Fights Cancer Ambassador). It's become harder for me to read stories like the one my colleague Dan Rosen did recently about
the charity event for pediatric cancer
hosted by New York Islanders forward Anders Lee and not have to stop for a minute. Same thing with the Chicago Blackhawks
honoring longtime player and current TV analyst Eddie Olczyk
, who has overcome colon cancer and Tracey Myers' story
about the bond
"Eddie O" shares with fellow "NHL on NBC" announcers Mike "Doc" Emrick and Pierre McGuire, each of whom has beaten prostate cancer.
I'm proud to work for a League whose teams and players go out of their way to help in the fight against the disease. It reminded me of something that I learned soon after covering my first NHL game 43 years ago: Hockey has some very special people. It was true then, and if anything, it's more true today.
