Back in March, Alex Trebek revealed that he is battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Most of the time when it is diagnosed, the patient finds out in the final stage of the disease. That means that their 5-year survival rate is “in the single digits.”
The Jeopardy host wishes he knew earlier that the symptoms he was experiencing were signs he had this cancer. That is why he is teaming up with World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition to let people know that the persistent stomach pain, mid back pain, sudden weight loss, new-onset diabetes and yellowing of skin and eyes are all “common symptoms” of this cancer.
Hopefully, by spreading the word, this cancer will stop spreading to stage 4 before the person knows they have it. He is saving lives by getting this important message out there and hopefully one of them is his own.
Jeopardy got hip the other night when they wanted to see if they could remember what songs hit #1 in the ’90s. While it is a nice trip down memory lane, it is also sad. That is because three of the singers are no longer with us. I guess we cannot all chase waterfalls forever.
How well did you do with the category? Are you sixpence none the richer?
We always think of Meryl Streep as a winner. However, Jeopardy thinks of her as a loser. That is why they had a whole category called “I Beat Meryl”. They asked the contestants to name the actresses who beat her at different awards shows. Proving it is always an honor to just be nominated. Granted winning is better. Then again having a whole category dedicated to you on the game show is not too shabby. Even they do portray you as a loser.
I don’t know if you know this, but Snoop Dogg was not born with that name. His real name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. In fact, he is not the only Hip Hop artist to go by a different moniker than the one their parents gave them.
Yesterday on Jeopardy, they wanted to see how well the contestants knew five singers real names, so they created a category with just that question. How well did they do? Let’s just they are a lot hipper than I am.
However, if they really wanted to make things really difficult they could have made the contestants try to guess their real names as compared to their stage ones. Then we would have gotten the same score! A big fat -6,000.
In March, Alex Trebek revealed that he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancreatic cancer and he was undergoing chemotherapy to beat it. In May, he said that his numbers were way down and doctors were hoping he was in remission. He spent the summer trying to rebuild his strength and regrow his hair. So much so, he was back at work on Jeopardy in July.
UPDATE: Alex Trebek gave this personal statement. He says that doctors are optimistic that chemo will work again last time. Let’s hope this time it sticks.
Things were looking good for the beloved talk show host. Then this morning he gave an update to Good Morning America and he has suffered a setback. He told T.J. Holmes, that in one week he lost 12 pounds and his numbers are higher than they were when he was first diagnosed. Therefore, he is undergoing a second round of chemo. Which is tiring him out and causing him to be in excruciating pain in his lower back. Yet, he has never missed a single day of work since he was diagnosed.
Does he plan on taking a break from the show? He says, “As long as I can walk out and greet the audience and the contestants and run the game, I’m happy.”
He is also at peace with the idea if he does not beat this disease. He said, “I realize that there is an end in sight for me, just as there is for everyone else. One line that I have used with our staff in recent weeks and months is that when I do pass on, one thing they will not say at my funeral is, ‘Oh, he was taken from us too soon.'” Then he added, “Hey guys. I’m 79-years-old. I’ve had one hell of a good life. And I’ve enjoyed it … the thought of passing on doesn’t frighten me, it doesn’t. Other things do, the affect it will have on my loved ones, yes, it bothers me. It makes me sad. But the thought of myself moving on, hey folks, it comes with the territory.”
In the interview, he said that he thinks of himself as a wuss because sometimes his emotions take over. To me, he is a stronger man than Samson with his hair and Trebek does not have any. We can all learn a lesson from his bravery. May Gd bless him with strength and may this round of chemo destroy those cancer cells.
