College Sports

University of Connecticut’s men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun has been diagnosed with a second round of skin cancer.

The 66 year old Hall of Fame coach was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma when a needle biopsy of a lump in the upper right side of his neck came back positive for cancer. Squamous cell is a fairly slow growing cancer, according to Calhoun’s physician, Dr. Jeffrey Spiro. The lump and several lymph nodes were removed.

Calhoun had a squamous cell lesion removed from his cheek last summer, and doctors believe that this latest bout is related to the first. He will undergo radiation treatment beginning later in June.

In 2003, Calhoun was diagnosed with and treated for prostate cancer.

So now I’ll climb up on my soapbox.

Skin cancer is nearly 100% preventable if you take precautions. But, while most will slather on the suntan lotion when at the pool or beach, that’s about it.

When was the last time you put on the sun block when you were at a football game? How about when you go to your kid’s baseball game?

Sure, it might seem silly, but speaking as someone who has had four bouts of skin cancer, it ain’t. Give me the lotion and keep me from the knife! I wasn’t a “baker,” either. Most of my sun exposure has come through going to games and sitting in the stands. And now I get to visit the dermatologist every six months for a “full body check.” It isn’t as glamorous as it sounds, either.

Oh, and in case you think that skin cancer comes around late in life, forget that. Mine first came along in my 30’s.

So learn a lesson from Coach Calhoun, and take it from me, your humble blogger… the only thing you want to take home from the game is a sore throat from screaming, not a lifetime of doctor visits.