Tumor removed
Strawberry's colon cancer surgery goes smoothly
Posted: Saturday October 03, 1998 08:38 PM
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Strawberry's illness could bring more awareness to the public about cancer AP |
NEW YORK (AP) -- Darryl
Strawberry's cancerous colon tumor was removed Saturday and doctors
said the disease did not appear to have spread.
Surgeons at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center removed a 16-inch
portion of his large intestine to get rid of a tumor almost 2 1/2 inches
long, according to a statement issued by the hospital and the team. The
tumor had nearly obstructed Strawberry's intestine.
Doctors said the three-hour operation went smoothly and his liver did not
show any sign of cancer. Surgeons reconnected the intestine after removing
the diseased segment.
Strawberry's medical team planned to test the tissue surgeons removed to
see if any cancer had spread to his lymph nodes. The results, which usually
take about a week to come in, will tell doctors whether he needs
chemotherapy.
The 36-year-old New
York Yankees outfielder was resting comfortably with his family after
the operation as well-wishers gathered outside the upper Manhattan hospital
-- about a mile from Yankee Stadium.
"He means an awful lot to me," said Joe Perez, a red-eyed fan standing
vigil for Strawberry. "I love that man like a brother."
Strawberry, whose career has been interrupted and drug- and
alcohol-related suspensions and a federal tax evasion conviction, was
having his best season in years. As a designated hitter and sometimes left
fielder, he hit .247 with 24 homers -- his highest total since 1991 -- and
57 RBIs in 101 games. He also set an American League record with two
pinch-hit grand slams.
His surgery dominated talk radio and filled the front -- and back --
pages of New York City's tabloids.
"You Gotta Believe," urged the New York Post's front page, taking
a cue from the New York
Mets' 1973 battle cry. Strawberry started his checkered career with the
Mets in 1983 and is the only player to win World Series championships with
both the Mets and Yankees.
"It's another hill to climb," Strawberry said Friday, wiping away a tear
as he recalled the get-well video sent to him by his Yankees teammates.
"They mean so much to me," he told ESPN from his home in Fort Lee, New
Jersey. "I want them to know my heart is with them."
In Arlington, Texas, the Yankees had Strawberry's No. 39 embroidered onto
their hats, and they watched a taped message from him before wrapping up a
three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers in the
first round of the playoffs.
He told them: "Get going, beat them. He pointed at us and said, 'Do it!'
The guys got a chuckle out of that," manager Joe Torre said.
Even the losing team wished him well. Several Rangers also wore his
number in some manner.
"Baseball is very, very, very important to all of us," Rangers manager
Johnny Oates said. "But the bottom line is sometimes we have to step aside
and think about human beings."
Strawberry joins about 100,000 Americans diagnosed each year with colon
cancer, the third deadliest of the cancer killers.
Two years ago at Columbia-Presbyterian, another member of the Yankees
family was fighting for his life. Torre's brother, Frank, underwent a heart
transplant as the team was winning its 23rd World Series title.
He said it was his troubled past that prepared him for what was ahead.
Strawberry's wife, Charisse, was told by doctors about her husband's
condition while he was still under anesthesia following a colonoscopy on
Thursday.
"They told me there was a tumor and they believed it was 99 percent
malignant," she said. Then she gave him the news.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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