ISINIWALAT ng dating host ng Nickelodeon show na Double Dare na si Marc Summers sa The Preston and Steve Show ng Philipadelphia radio station na WMMR ang lihim niyang pakikipaglaban sa leukemia.
“I’ve been sort of keeping something secret for the last five years, and I guess I’m ready to talk about it now, and that is: I was diagnosed with cancer five years ago,” pahayag ni Summers, 63. “You know, in show business, if you talk about that stuff, it’s hard to get hired afterward...And I’ve sort of compressed this thing and it’s made me nuts.”
Ayon kay Summers, naging executive producer sa Food Network, muntik na niyang sabihin sa publiko ang pinagdaraanan noong siya ay napanood sa Where Are They Now ni Oprah Winfrey noong nakaraang taon.
Dahil mailang ulit na ring lumabas sa Preston and Steve si Summers, napagdesisyunan nitong sa programa ipaalam ang kanyang kalagayan.
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“It’s a fact that I was diagnosed with something called chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL),” paliwanag niya. “I was having stomach problems and in severe pain, went to a hospital, and they took 17 and a half inches of my small intestine out.”
Doon na nalaman ni Summers ang balita. “When I woke up, I said — because I’m a stand-up comic, just trying to make light of the situation — ‘Hey doctor, do I have cancer?’” paggunita ni Summers. “And he said, ‘As a matter of fact, you do.’ And that sort of freaked me out. And he said, ‘You need to get to an oncologist right away.’ Well, man, those are the words I don’t wish on anybody.”
Sinabi ng unang doktor na kinonsulta ni Summers na mayroon siyang CLL, subalit sa pangalawang eksaminasyon, lumabas na ang karamdaman niya ay mantle cell lymphoma at tinaningan siya ng hanggang anim na buwan.
“I was freaking out,” aniya kela Elliot at Morrison. “I called my wife in tears and said, ‘I’m not gonna get to see the kids marry. The guy told me to get our papers ready.’”
Sa kabutihang-palad, lumabas na nagkamali ang pangalawang doktor na sumuri kay Summers – ang kanyang karamdaman sa katunayan ay CLL. Sumailalim sa chemotherapy si Summers sa loob ng dalawang taon kasabay ng PET scans hanggang sa “finally got the all-clear sign”.
“I’m not covering it up anymore,” aniya. “I had it, I’m in remission...and I’m ready to move on.”
