{"id":10030,"date":"2016-01-07T12:30:37","date_gmt":"2016-01-07T18:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=10030"},"modified":"2016-01-07T12:30:37","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T18:30:37","slug":"cancer-surgery-sidelines-terri-hemmert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2016\/01\/07\/cancer-surgery-sidelines-terri-hemmert\/","title":{"rendered":"Cancer surgery to sideline Terri Hemmert"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Terri<\/a>

<\/a> Terri Hemmert (Photo: Abel Uribe)<\/p><\/div>\n

Terri Hemmert, the Radio Hall of Famer and revered Chicago broadcasting treasure, said Thursday she\u2019ll be sidelined from WXRT FM 93.1 <\/a>to\u00a0deal with cancer surgery and treatment.<\/p>\n

Hemmert, 67, now in her 42nd year at the CBS Radio album adult alternative station, told her midday listeners she recently was diagnosed with an early stage of cancer she chose not to specify. After Friday\u2019s show, Hemmert said she expects to be out for four to six weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody wants to hear the C-word, but I feel really confident I\u2019ve got a great doctor and staff,\u201d she said in an interview. \u201cI\u2019ve dealt with [the hospital] before, and they\u2019ve done really right by me. And I caught it early, so I\u2019m optimistic on that front too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hemmert said she plans to keep friends and fans updated with frequent posts on her Facebook page.<\/a> \u201cWithout being preachy, I want to try to make it a vehicle about people going to get checked out. If you have a funky symptom, go see your doctor. That\u2019s what I did, and boy, am I glad I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to her midday show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday, Hemmert also hosts \u201cBreakfast with the Beatles\u201d from 8 to 10 a.m. Sundays. She said she plans she plans to tape the next four weeks of Beatles shows in one-hour versions before her surgery Monday.<\/p>\n

Hemmert was sidelined for six weeks in 2014 for knee replacement surgery. Her convalescence drew thousands of well-wishes from fans and friends.<\/p>\n

Here is the statement Hemmert shared with listeners Thursday:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have some news. Last year I had a knee replaced and was doing well with a lot of help from my excellent physical therapists. But I was still in pain that made it difficult to walk (and I love to walk!). Turns out I have spinal stenosis and was hoping for surgery to fix that this month. Well, life is what happens when you\u2019re busy making other plans. I went to my doctor with a symptom that needed to be checked out. After going through a bunch of tests I had some polyps removed in November. They were benign, and I went right from the hospital to my favorite Mexican restaurant. Things seemed fine. Until I found out I have cancer. I went in for my follow up appointment just a couple days before Thanksgiving. Thought it would be high fives for the surgery. The bad news was that they found cancer behind the polyps. The good news is it\u2019s early. . . Stage One. More good news is I have a great medical team who didn\u2019t give up testing. Tomorrow will be my last show for awhile. I\u2019ll be going in for surgery Monday, and will need at least a month to recuperate. I asked if they could just flip me over and do the back surgery while I was there, but that\u2019s not possible. Doesn\u2019t hurt to ask. Beginning this Sunday \u201cBreakfast With The Beatles\u201d will be one hour long, from 9 to 10 a.m. I didn\u2019t want to leave you without at least an hour of the fabs. Back to two hours when I get back to work.<\/em><\/p>\n

Cancer is the scariest word in our language. It is also a wake up call. It\u2019s a reminder to get to the doctor every year and when your body is trying to tell you something. It\u2019s a reminder that every day of life is precious. It\u2019s a reminder that we get by with a little help from our friends. I\u2019ve got this. You\u2019ve got my back. How can I lose? My family, co-workers at XRT and friends have been incredible and will help me through this. And you, my friends on the radio, can help me by keeping in touch. I\u2019ll be posting updates on my Facebook page. You can reach me there. You can also send out good thoughts, and if you believe in prayer, I\u2019d appreciate that. My faith has taught me over the years that you don\u2019t pray for magic tricks and easy answers. You pray that you have the strength to handle what ever comes your way.<\/em><\/p>\n

I was a sickly child, in and out of hospitals. My main source of inspiration was my favorite baseball player, Roy Campanella. I read his book about dealing with the auto accident that put him in a wheel chair for the rest of his life. The book is called <\/em>It\u2019s Good To Be Alive. I was 13 when I read that book . . . just before I was diagnosed with rheumatic fever. His story informed me how to handle that life changer. I learned to be grateful for family, friends and health care professionals. I learned to keep my sense of humor. Roy continues to be my mentor. With your support I\u2019ll continue to be grateful, and keep my sense of humor.<\/em><\/p>\n

I look forward to getting back to work with my family here at XRT. I look forward to coming back to serve the most remarkable radio audience a DJ could hope for. Thanks for your love and prayers. I\u2019m grateful more than I can say.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Terri Hemmert, the Radio Hall of Famer and revered Chicago broadcasting treasure, said Thursday she\u2019ll be sidelined from WXRT FM 93.1 to\u00a0deal with cancer surgery and treatment. Hemmert, 67, now in her 42nd year at the CBS Radio album adult alternative station, told her midday listeners she recently was diagnosed with an early stage of... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10030"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10030"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10054,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10030\/revisions\/10054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}