Healthcare and medical issues can often be private topics that people don’t
like to discuss.
However, NFL legend Archie Manning is opening up and getting personal
this month after the pain of watching two close friends battle cancer.
“We’ve all been touched by cancer, unfortunately,” Manning
said. “For me, recently the loss of my good friend Hokie (Gajan),
really hit home. Also, my dear friend Chris Mortensen is at M.D. Anderson
battling cancer right now. I communicate with him every single day, trying
to support him and check in on him. There aren’t many of us in this
old world who haven’t been affected by this terrible illness, in
one form or another.”
Gajan was a former star running back for both the LSU Tigers and the New
Orleans Saints who lost his battle to a rare form of cancer known as liposarcoma
on April 11, 2016. Liposarcoma is a cancer that generally begins in the
soft tissue.
Gajan and Manning’s friendship began when they both played together
briefly with the Saints in the early 80’s. The Black and Gold selected
Gajan in the 1981 Draft, and he went on to play 45 games for New Orleans
at fullback.
Mortensen is a senior NFL analyst for ESPN who is currently fighting Stage
4 Throat Cancer. Mortensen was the first to break the retirement news
about Peyton Manning, Archie’s son who recently won his second Super
Bowl, this one with the Denver Broncos.
After saying goodbye to Gajan and trying to help shoulder some of the
emotional load of Mortensen’s battle, Manning is speaking out about
the critical need for people to receive cancer screenings.
“Absolutely we all have to be proactive and diligent about getting
the proper screenings so doctors can catch things early,” Manning
said. “We all have a tendency to say ‘That will never happen
to me. That happens to other people, not me or my family.’ That’s
not the way it works though. We just have to do it – as far as taking
the time to receive the proper screenings. Be aware, be conscious of the
gift of good health and protect it.”
The Cancer Center of Thibodaux Regional helps people keep their health
intact by offering potentially life-saving screenings and detection services
using the latest technology available. If a patient is diagnosed with
a problem, the quality of care and attention to detail at the Center add
up to longer, fuller lives for many patients. The American College of
Surgeons Commission on Cancer has awarded Thibodaux Regional’s Cancer
Center with its Outstanding Achievement Award four times, more than any
other cancer center in the state.
Here’s a cheat sheet of when you should start the screening process:
- Breast Cancer: annual mammogram for women beginning at age 40, unless there
is a family history
- Cervical Cancer: annual pap smear for women beginning at age 18
- Prostate Cancer: digital rectal scan for men beginning at age 50, unless
there is a family history
- Colon Cancer: colonoscopy every 10 years for men and women age 50 or above,
unless there is a family history
- Skin Cancer: skin exam by doctor every 3 years until the age of 40, then
annual check ups
For more information on cancer screenings and treatment options, please
call the Cancer Center of Thibodaux Regional at (985) 493-4708.