ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Sportscasting legend Dick Vitale is celebrating great news after getting a call from his doctor that his pet scan came back with "no cancer showing."
Vitale, 82, had been on the road to recovery as of late after undergoing vocal cord surgery in February for precancerous dysplasia.
"OMG ALL THE PRAYERS many of u have sent have been answered as DR Brown who heads my cancer TEAM called & said PET SCAN came back that NO CANCER is showing. I feel like a coach playing for the Final 4 has a PTPer hit a shot at buzzer. My MARCH MADNESS starts with a W baby !" Vitale tweeted Tuesday.
Following the procedure, Vitale had described the surgery as challenging and indicated he would be sore for about a week. But, he said his doctor felt like it was successful. He was also required to be on a four-week mandatory vocal rest.
Late last year, the sports legend said he was taking a break due to vocal struggles, partially caused by inflammation in his throat. Vocal rest helped reduce that inflammation enough to allow for the surgery.
These vocal cord updates come on the heels of Vitale's larger announcement in October that he had been diagnosed with cancer for a second time, leading him to undergo lymphoma treatments at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. The more recent cancer diagnosis was not related to a previous melanoma diagnosis.
For the lymphoma, Vitale underwent chemotherapy at SMH's brand new Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute Oncology Tower. Vitale has praised the "fantastic" staff at the facility.
In November, Vitale briefly returned to the airwaves following the October cancer treatments in Sarasota. But, he stopped calling games again on Dec. 12 because of the aforementioned inflammation.