Remy: Don’t wait, go see a doctor
Jerry Remy is quite confident he’s going to win his latest bout with lung cancer.
What he truly wants to get out of it, however, is that people will listen to his tale and take action.
Go see your doctor — whether or not you feel sick.
“It’s so critical in my mind to get regular checkups because there’s nothing that can compare to getting an early diagnosis on cancer,” Remy, 64, said yesterday. “If you get it early, you’ve got a good chance — if you don’t, you don’t have a good chance.
“Be diligent, see your doctor. If you have a cancer, early detection and early treatment is exceptionally important.”
The week before Christmas, Remy went in for his regularly scheduled CT scan — he has had them every three months since he first developed lung cancer in 2008, and then had two recurrences in 2013 — and a spot in his lungs was detected. Another scan was ordered that also revealed further areas of concern in his lymph nodes. A biopsy was performed to see if the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes, and Remy had to wait through the holidays for the results.
Remy described it as an “awful, horrible, incredibly stressful” time.
To Remy’s delight, the result was negative. But the new spot in his lungs still had to be dealt with. On the day after the Super Bowl, another procedure was performed to remove it. Another CT scan scheduled for early March will reveal how well Remy is healing.
Both he and the Mass General doctors, led by Red Sox team physician Dr. Larry Ronan, are optimistic that they got all of the cancer.
With the positive outlook comes a greater concern for Remy. The fact that he believed he reached so many people in 2009, when he discussed his battle with depression in his recovery from the first bout of cancer makes him want to share his story right now.
“I could have easily kept this quiet because it came up during the offseason but I kind of feel like when I had that depression (in 2009),” Remy said. “It seemed like it helped a lot of people. I’m going to try and do that again with the message to be diligent in seeing a doctor. So many people, like myself included, I had a fear about going to the doctor, I didn’t want to know something was wrong, and a lot of people feel that way.”
Remy said he’s 99 percent sure he got lung cancer from a smoking habit that began when he was 16.
“I’m paying the price for it now,” he said.
Remy is still in the Boston area, and was not scheduled to fly to Fort Myers for spring training until the second week in March, and then broadcast a game in the third week of March. That was the original schedule, and Remy expects to keep it.
“I’m very, very confident I’m not going to miss a beat. I’m very confident this is all going to heal the way they expect it to and I’m going to get the green light to go to Florida and pick up where I’m supposed to pick up,” said Remy.
Remy, who says he will do a full schedule of 115 games this season, is looking forward to working with NESN play-by-play broadcaster Dave O’Brien, who’s “extra prepared for every game.” Remy believes their first season working together went “really well.”
What he wants most is to get his next clean bill of health so he can return to the booth because “work’s a really good therapy for me.”
Remy said that he doesn’t feel as if he’s sick.
“I feel great — I’ve been through a lot of (stuff) but I feel terrific, and I’m pleased with that,” said Remy. “The toughest part is the mental part. But that gets back to my main point, which is that I am surrounded by some terrific doctors. They give you the honest truth about what’s going on and they do an incredible job of taking care of you.”
Having doctors take care of others who need it starts, as Remy so rightly claims, with setting up that initial appointment.
In other words, don’t wait.
‘I’m very, very confident I’m not going to miss a beat.’
— JERRY REMY