# Skater Scott Hamilton has a brain tumor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410 "2004-11-12T17:38:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/1 "2004-11-12T17:38:19Z")
[Link.](http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3156786) Poor guy. Well, he beat prostate cancer, and we can only hope he’ll beat this. I know I’m not the only skating fan who will keep him in my thoughts and prayers. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/2 "2004-11-12T17:44:17Z")
damn. I live in his his birth town. It’s gotta be from Poe Ditch. Anything that smells like that FOR NO REASON has got to contain carcinogens. I’ll send good vibes Scott’s way. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/3 "2004-11-12T17:51:56Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > [url=http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3156786] > Poor guy. Well, he beat prostate cancer, and we can only hope he’ll beat this. Actually, in an even more of a “The Universe is a cruel, heartless bitch” twist, he had testicular (not prostate) cancer. IIRC (don’t really want to google such things are work), he had much of… that area removed. To then have to face even a benign brain tumor just shows no one’s really watching out for us, except to laugh heartily. Poor guy… here’s hoping for a speedy recovery. -BK (who is feeling especially maudlin and pissy today for some reason…) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/4 "2004-11-12T17:54:44Z")
Thanks for the correction – a friend of mine just got diagnosed with prostate cancer, thus the short-circuit in my brain. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/5 "2004-11-12T19:14:24Z")
Wow, poor guy. Was he still performing, or has he stopped? ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/6 "2004-11-12T19:16:50Z")
> [@The Chao Goes Mu](#): > > damn. I live in his his birth town. It’s gotta be from Poe Ditch. Anything that smells like that FOR NO REASON has got to contain carcinogens. Woah…I do too…two Dopers in such a small town… Is “Poe Ditch” that area next to BGSU that used to be a parking lot and now smells like chemicals? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/7 "2004-11-12T19:45:10Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > Wow, poor guy. Was he still performing, or has he stopped? He had pretty much stopped touring, though still performed (very) occasionally. I was hoping he’d get back into commentary – maybe someone could persuade Dick Button to retire? (Though I like Dick Button – he’s more amusing the more curmudgeonly he gets – he’s older than Og at this point.) ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/8 "2004-11-12T19:50:56Z")
It’s _benign,_ everybody! That is to say: not cancer! Put away the crying towels. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/9 "2004-11-12T20:01:37Z")
> [@My Darn Snake Legs](#): > > Woah…I do too…two Dopers in such a small town… > > Is “Poe Ditch” that area next to BGSU that used to be a parking lot and now smells like chemicals? It’s the ditch that runs along Poe Rd. It’s especially foul if you’re heading east toward the Meijer store. Wow, I have a helluva time finding NW Ohio dopers and now here’s one in BG. Snake Legs? heheh. my girlfriend calls me Chicken Legs ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/10 "2004-11-12T20:19:46Z")
The name is not in any relation to my actual legs. You’re welcome to look at the thread about origins of names if you like. I think you can still call it “cancer” even it it’s not malignant. A benign tumor is still a bad thing to have. Especially in the brain. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/11 "2004-11-12T21:22:57Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > It’s _benign,_ everybody! That is to say: not cancer! > > Put away the crying towels. Fiver, you know I love you, but I have to disagree slightly. I don’t think anyone here is rending their clothes or anything… just sending hopes for a speedy recovery. A tumor, even a slow-growing benign one, in the area they’re talking about isn’t just something to wave off. It means treatment of some sort or another- and there’s always risks when surgically cracking open the head, or side effects to chemo/radiation, etc. It doesn’t appear they can just leave it alone- the article (and the news report I heard earlier) makes it clear that it’s already affecting his eyesight, and who wants to potentially go blind? So he’s going to have to eventually undergo an invasive medical procedure, and IMO/E it’s perfectly appropriate to send good vibes or well-wishes in such a situation, as well as to bemoan the poor luck of someone who’s had most of his bits removed having to go have their head popped open. But I still respect you and all. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/12 "2004-11-12T22:34:29Z")
Man, this guy has been through hell on earth, but he always seems to have a smile on his face, and a good attitude about life. He fits firmly into the hero category. Good luck Scott. ---
**Author:** ![dancefan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@dancefan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dancefan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/13 "2004-11-12T23:14:12Z")
[, this guy has been through hell on earth, but he always seems to have a smile on his face, and a good attitude about life. He fits firmly into the hero category.] If you have ever read his autobiography you would know that Hamilton chose to cover the Nancy/Tonya Olympics over being with his hospitalized deathly-ill father. His dad died while Mr Self-Absorbed was commenting on figure skating overseas. His adoptive parents sacrificed a lot so that he could have the best coaching/training. The financial and time that couple invested in him (at the expense of their other children) is understandable, but his large ego and sense of entitlement really annoys me. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skater-scott-hamilton-has-a-brain-tumor/274410/14 "2004-11-12T23:19:54Z")
I’ve been a big skating fan since the '84 Olympics (Hamilton _and_ Torvill & Dean…what a year!), and Scott Hamilton has always been my favorite skater. When I saw his “I beat cancer” show on TV, and saw the emotion on his face while he skated to “Tubthumping,” I got a little misty myself. 🙂 The eyesight problem mentioned in the article (and by **bobkitty** ) is a little disconcerting…malignant or no, brain tumors are dangerous things. He and his family will definitely be in my thoughts. Thanks for posting this, **twickster**! > [@My Darn Snake Legs](#): > > I think you can still call it “cancer” even it it’s not malignant. IANAD, but, nope, I don’t think you can. Even the article refers to it as non-cancerous. 🙂 > [@dancefan](#): > > Hamilton chose to cover the Nancy/Tonya Olympics over being with his hospitalized deathly-ill father. His dad died while Mr Self-Absorbed was commenting on figure skating overseas. Does the autobiography get into _why_ he covered the Olympics instead of being with his father? There are tons of potential reasons why he might not have been around for his father’s death, and none of them are self-absorbed…