Former Olympic figure skating champion Scott Hamilton has decided to postpone treatment for his third brain tumor until he experiences symptoms, opting to focus on targeted radiation therapy to shrink the tumor instead of undergoing another complicated surgery.
Hamilton, who underwent two previous surgeries for brain cancer in 2004 and 2010, expressed his willingness to wait until necessary, citing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in accessing medical care.
Hamilton said, “When they gave me the diagnosis, they said, it’s back.”
“And so they brought in this guy, a really young, talented surgeon, and he said, ‘We could do the surgery again. It’d be complicated, but we’ve got really talented people here that we could bring in, and I know we could pull it off if that’s an option for you,’” he continued.
“And then COVID hit and going into any kind of hospital situation was almost impossible,” recalled the figure skater.
“So in my spirit, in my inner being, I realized, I’m totally at peace with not even looking at it again unless I become symptomatic,” he explained.
Hamilton said, “The ace I have up my sleeve is that now there is a targeted radiation therapy that will shrink the tumor.”
“And in that, I can avoid a lot of other things like surgery and chemo. So I don’t know, I’m mostly trying to be in the moment and taking all the information and do the right thing when the time comes,” concluded Hamilton.
Despite the tumor initially shrinking, Hamilton remains calm and focused on making informed decisions when the time is right.
