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Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | LOS ANGELES - Singer Melissa Etheridge has been diagnosed with breast cancer and has canceled upcoming tour dates to undergo treatment, according to her publicist.
Etheridge, 43, will undergo surgery and her doctor expects a "speedy and complete recovery," publicist Marcel Pariseau said in a statement.
The cancer was detected early and Etheridge has been receiving treatment, Pariseau said Thursday.
"I am fortunate to be under a wonderful doctor's care and thankful that this was caught early," Etheridge said in the statement. "I am looking forward to a quick and full recovery."
Etheridge and actress Tammy Lynn Michaels held a commitment ceremony in September 2003. The musician, who lives in Los Angeles, shares custody of a daughter and son with former partner Julie Cypher, who had the children through artificial insemination using a sperm donation from rocker David Crosby.
Etheridge's latest album, "Lucky," was released in February. Refunds for tickets to her upcoming shows will be available where they were bought; the entertainer's Web site says she had been scheduled to play 11 dates in seven cities this month. |
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Location: Fayetteville, NC | God speed Melissa! Get well soon! |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Tough news, Hope she gets past it well. |
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Location: NJ | been there done that. It ain't fun. Good wishes absolutely! |
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Location: Yucaipa, California | ...seems like 2004 has been hard to the music world... Best wishes, ME :) |
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Location: Central Florida | Wishing Ms. Etheridge the very best for a speedy and FULL recovery.
You know, the leading causes of cancer related deaths in the US are Lung, breast, and the one with which I've become intimately familiar in the last couple of months, colon cancer. I hadn't really planned to "go public" with this, but cancer related ailments seem to be on the rise at such an astonishing rate these days, that I'm taking this opportunity to do a personal PSA.
On August 6th of this year, I was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer at age 44. The medical community doesn't even begin to encourage colo-rectal exams until age fifty or over. But friends, if you have any family history of cancer, and colon cancer in particular, please DON'T wait till then to get an exam. If it's caught early enough, the cure rate is excellent. Since mine was a stage three, that means I'd probably been walking around with it for two or three years at least. The good news for me is, the surgery to remove the tumor was a complete success. However, because it was a stage three, that means it spread to a few lymph nodes and I am now undergoing preventitive chemotherapy for the next six months. My prognosis is still very good; however, if I'd had the forsight to get an exam a year or so earlier it would be even better. My point is, imagine if I had waited till age fifty or older to get my first exam. Early detection really is the key!
Anyway, it's not my intention to take away from the news of Ms. Etheridge's misfortune, I just felt compelled to share my story in the hopes that at least one among my Ovation brethren might benefit.
Thanks,
Jeff |
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Location: SoCal | Jeff,
Our prayers - keep your head up... |
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Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | Jeff:
Thanks for sharing your story and the great advice. Best wishes and the best of luck to you!
Be well,
John |
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Location: SoCal | Jeff's got a lot of prayers being said for him from around the country. And he's right. It's important to be checked for it on a regular basis. Catch it early, and recovery chances are very very good. Most of us are of an age where we should get checked yearly. Stay on top of it guys. |
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Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | best wishes for a speedy recovery. hang in there, you have allot more to give the music scene. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Not to belittle Ms. Ethrridge situation at all, and I hope for a full and speedy recovery. But I wonder if this will effect her TV show. I presume those episodes were all taped in advance. |
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Location: Lafayette, Louisiana | Jeff, I know what you are going through. One day at a time is how I have learned to live, and I will keep you in my prayers. |
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Location: Midland, MI | Jeff-
Sorry to hear about your situation, but glad that you're getting it taken care of. We lost an uncle to colon cancer about, oh, seventeen years ago. My dad took it quite hard and I'm not exaggerating when I say it still affects him. Best wishes to you! |
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Location: Central Florida | Thank you ALL for your prayers and good wishes. I deeply appreciate it. I have every reason to believe I'm going to be fine. We serve an awesome God and He's brought me through thus far.
Thanks again guys, y'all are simply the best!
Jeff |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Jeff,
Wish you all the best.
Early check ups are the key. Remember, Frank Zappa died of prostate cancer, and he was only 49. Probably never had the check.
(I think that's right, if not Al will correct me) |
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Location: NJ | born 1940
died 1993
Frank decided not to get treatment. I am not sure if it was because his cancer was already very advanced or because he felt the quality of his life would not benefit with the treatment or because he felt that it was the natural progression of his life.
His untimely death was an absolute tragedy to the music community. I had the opportunity to see him live a couple of times and it was fantastic. |
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Location: Houston, TX | OK, wasn't sure if I wanted to talk about it or not - but think of this as a sort of public service announcement.
About 2 months ago I got what I thought was an infected pimple or a little ingrown hair that got infected - right in the middle of my forehead. It just wouldn't go away. I tried special soaps, creams, pads...nothing helped. I went to the dermatologist on Sept 24 who looked at it for about 2 seconds and said "yep, that's a wart caused by a virus, it's very common and we're gonna cut it off today." She numbed it and cut it off with a razor blade and I never felt a thing. 4-5 days later I was very happy with the tiny white patch as the only evidence. I did notice the next day that it had turned pink and seemed to be a bit of a hump again. Little bigger, little pinker the next day.
On Friday Oct 1 the dermatologist called and said "well that wasn't a wart, that was skin cancer". After I remembered to take a breath I said "benign?" and he said "no, it's malignant".
Now, I'm going to be absolutely fine. It is a non-melanoma squamous cell carcinoma, seems to be localized with no matastesis. Surgery on the 25th should take care of it permanently, and the procedure (MOHS surgery) has a 99% cure rate 5 years out when the cancer has not already spread. Squamous does kill 2000-2500 a year in the US, but it is generally in those who have left it untreated for years.
I went in for a full body check yesterday and there are no other questionable areas. Cool.
So the message is:
Please - if you have freckles, moles, skin tags, warts, or Taylor guitars - go get checked out by a professional. The $10 or $20 copay and an hour of your time is a small price to pay.
And yes, you may call me Unicorn, if you must. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Love your comment Scott. I get to get checked out this coming Thursday. There is a little heartburn issue so I get the tube/scope from both ends. I just hope that they do the top side first, other wise it might be hard to get the taste out of my mouth. |
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Location: Houston, TX | Yes, yes - excellent point from a wise man - sniff the tube before it goes in the north entrance.
Also along these lines - beware the doctor that checks your prostate with both his hands on your shoulders. |
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Location: NJ | cwk
I had both of those tests many times. If you need any advice let me know |
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Location: San Bernardino, California | DON'T get a prostrate exam from a female doctor with LONG fingernails.
OUCH!!! |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | I will look out for both hands on the shoulders. |
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Location: Queens, NY | Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Melissa! |
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Location: Canada | Good Luck to Jeff and Melissa. |
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Location: NC | Of all the nasty illnesses out there.........cancer would be the hardest to swallow. I had rather have a massive coronary than suffer through the uncertainty. I had a co-worker that was diagnosed with breast cancer and she caught it in time to survive through radiation treatment! Catch it early and chances to defeat it are quite well. Good luck to anyone battling or has battled this disease. :) |
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Best Wishes To Melissa Etheridge
