ESPN’s Holly Rowe discusses her bout with cancer
Feb. 14, 2016. When ESPN reporter Holly Rowe was wheeled out of surgery last week after doctors removed a cancerous tumor in her chest, a malignant tumor under her right arm and 29 additional lymph nodes, she found something waiting for her upon returning to her hospital room: 244 text messages. One of the very first texts came from Buddy Hield, the senior shooting guard and Player of the Year candidate from Oklahoma. “My Mom and I are so upset and we are praying for you,” Hield texted Rowe. Hield was part of a boldfaced group of texters that included Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg, Texas men’s basketball coach Shaka Smart, UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma and star forward Breanna Stewart, Turner Sports personality Charles Barkley, Oklahoma men’s basketball coach Lon Kruger, NBC Sports anchor Dan Patrick and WNBA players Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings and Brittany Griner, among many others. LSU football coach Les Miles and Good Morning America host and former ESPN anchor Robin Roberts called with encouragement. South Carolina women’s coach Dawn Staley and her team posted video support on Twitter. Seattle Storm and former Notre Dame star Jewell Loyd sent Rowe flowers.
The ESPN reporter said that her broadcast colleague Doris Burke got the V Foundation involved in her health issue. They got her an appointment with one of nation’s top experts at UCLA. Rowe said her cancer (desmoplastic melanoma) is very rare. The latest update on her health is positive.
“It was a pretty painful and massive procedure and I won’t be wearing tank tops soon,” Rowe said. “But all 29 lymph nodes came back with no additional cancer and that was great news and promising.”
The next step is meeting with doctors, followed by the likelihood of radiation and a clinical trial of immunotherapy, which is the use of medicines to stimulate a patient’s own immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells more effectively.
“It sounds daunting but I think it is a pretty good prognosis and I am very hopeful,” Rowe said. “The doctors think I am ridiculous. They tell me I have cancer and my next question is, “Well, when can I go back to work?” I feel good, but I have to remind myself I am not totally normal right now.” [MORE]
That is the response you get when, in a business that has a lot of "look at me" egos involved, you do your job in a fair, humble, and upbeat way. Many prayers for a full and complete recovery for Holly.
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