BOSTON — Boston Red Sox TV analyst Jerry Remy said Monday he has been diagnosed with lung cancer for a fifth time and will have surgery to treat it in two weeks.
The 64-year-old Remy, who’s been a part of NESN’s Red Sox broadcast team since 1988, spoke to reporters before working the opener of Boston’s two-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“It’s obviously disappointing to me, but it’s something that I’ve been through a number of times,” he said. “It has not spread. It’s located in one spot and surgery will remove it. They’ll be a recovery time after surgery.”
Remy plans to work up until the surgery and expects to return after the All-Star break.
The former Red Sox second baseman known on broadcasts as “RemDawg” said the cancer was detected during his regular three-month exam.
“The point I’m trying to make to everybody is that you should go see your doctors,” Remy said. “This is the fifth time I’ve had cancer, but each time I’ve had it, it’s been caught early. It is what it is, I’ll deal with it, but my message to people at home is if you don’t go to your doctor, you don’t have much of a chance to find out. They can really help you.”
Remy played for Boston from 1978-84 and is a member of the team’s Hall of Fame. He has been a popular Red Sox television analyst since 1988.
Remy was originally diagnosed with cancer in 2008. He said baseball has kept him busy as he’s gone through treatments each time, and that each brings a new challenge.
“I’ve had cancer five times. Enough is enough,” he said. “The fact is other people can avoid it, it’s not fun. It wears you down. I’m not going to lie, it wears you down.
“There’s a lot of people a lot worse than me, so I consider myself lucky at the stage that I’m at.”
Remy has received an outpouring of support since his announcement, and he couldn’t thank the fans enough for reaching out.
“The fans have been great, they’ve been behind me since Day 1,” he said.
“My Twitter has been blowing up today and it’s nice to know that people care. But I also want to try to teach people that the stuff that I’m going through, they need to take care of themselves, too.”
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