Posted on 10/09/2010 1:50:03 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn(notes) says he has cancer in a salivary gland.
He told The San Diego Union-Tribune the cancer was discovered last month and he faces seven to eight weeks of treatment—radiation five times a week and chemotherapy once a week.
“The doctors have told me they feel they caught the cancer early and there was not much of it there,” he said in a story published Saturday.
The parotid cancer was diagnosed after the former Padres star had a third round of surgery since 1997 to remove a tumor on the parotid gland. The previous procedures found no malignancies.
Gwynn is San Diego State’s baseball coach, and the school confirmed Gwynn’s condition to The Associated Press. Gwynn plans to return to his alma mater, which he has coached since 2003.
“They say this is a slow moving but aggressive form of cancer,” Gwynn said. “I’m going to be aggressive and not slow moving in treating this.”
Gwynn said he was concerned the cancer could be linked to his career-long practice of using chewing tobacco.
“I haven’t discussed that with the doctors yet, but I’m thinking it’s related to dipping,” said Gwynn, who resumed the practice of using chewing tobacco after the first two surgeries.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
Best hitter I ever saw in person. Good person also.
Ditto. I am not even a Padres fan but I have a classic throwback Padres away jersey with Gwynn on the back...proudly wear that baby any time I can in the oppressive Florida weather.
God bless you, Tony. We miss you here in Phoenix. Hang in there. God heals cancer, too.
Prayers for a classy guy that proved that roads taken based on monetary rewards is usually a very ill chosen path.
God speed, Tony!
I had the honor of meeting Tony once. He was a courteous, humble, happy fellow.
Best wishes to Gwynn, great hitter for the Padres. I believe cancer of the salivary gland is what cost Roger Ebert his lower jaw, tongue, etc. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.
I have been dippin’/chewin’ for thirty years, I oughta stop...
Prayers up...
God bless Tony.. a great player and great man. Stayed with the Padres his whole career.. a rarity these days.
Wasn’t Tony called ‘the toy cannon’?
The article says a slow cancer. It’s most likely ACC, or adenoid cystic carcenoma.
It has a propensity to metastasize in the lungs and liver, and runs under the radar as the rate of mitosis is very slow. The good news is that it is slow. Tony has an excellent chance of surviving into his 70’s if he takes care of himself.
Many doctors don’t know how to treat ACC as it doesn’t behave like 80% of the other oral cancers, and it’s the unknown that really makes it difficult. The number of ACC patients alive in the U.S. today would barely fit into the upper deck of Candlestick Park.
Our prayers go out to him and his family.
One of the greatest hitters of all time. Get better, Tony.
Thanks for the insight. I hope he wins.
I’ll have to disagree with you and give the nod to Don Mattingly, but Gwynn is definitely a close second. Perhaps Gwynn was the better pure hitter of the two, but he lacked Mattingly’s power (at least during Mattingly’s peak before his back injury hampered him for the rest of his all-too-short career).
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