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Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Boston Radio: Curt Schilling Says 'Chew' Caused Cancer


Curt Schilling revealed this morning that he has been suffering from oral cancer – the result of a 30-year chewing tobacco habit that the former Red Sox ace said he wishes he never began, according to the Boston Herald.

“I do believe without a doubt, unquestionably, that chewing is what gave me cancer,” Schilling said during the WEEI 93.7 FM / NESN Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon. “I wish I could go back and never dipped.”

Schilling said he went through seven weeks of chemotherapy and radiation to treat squamous cell carcinoma, a cancer in the lining of his mouth. His doctor, Dr. Robert Haddad of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute said the pitcher’s prognosis is very good.

“It could be so much worse,” Schilling said. “It could be one of my kids.”

Schilling, speaking on the “Dennis & Callahan” morning show, said he kept his diagnosis under wraps for months – he was diagnosed last February – because “I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me,” and because he didn’t want to become part of the chewing tobacco debate.

“But I will go to my grave believing that is why I got what I got,” he said.

Schilling, who began “dipping” in high school, said chewing tobacco was habit-forming and he didn’t quit, despite losing his sense of smell and bleeding from his gums.

In June, baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn died at 54 in following a long battle with salivary gland cancer that he said was caused by chewing tobacco.

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