Our resident morning host you know and adore, George Knight, has an important message he wrote to share with all of you in our 88.9 community.
One of the things that goes along with choosing a career in media is that many times I’m “living out loud”, meaning that most of the time I’m not shy about sharing with my listeners (aka my radio family) what I’m up to.
I have been dealing with something for the past few months, however, that I’ve been keeping on the down low. And at this moment I feel like there might be some benefit to filling in some of the blanks, so here comes the share.
Since early May I have been undergoing treatment for throat cancer. It was discovered after I noticed swollen glands that were behaving strangely, and was encouraged strongly by those around me to get them checked out. It was not immediately apparent what was going on, but after tests and more tests, it was determined that it was something serious but treatable.
Getting to that point was an emotional roller coaster. I am among the many who have experienced major losses because of cancer. When I was younger, I lost my awesome Dad to lung cancer, and more recently the WERS family lost our incredible friend, co-worker, and Emerson student Nora to cancer. My dad and Nora were front and center in my mind when I got the news of what was discovered. I started thinking a little too deeply about mortality and loss, and how they affect the people you love.
Fast forward to today. I have just completed a long stretch of radiation and chemotherapy, and I now understand better the power of what the very smart and talented medical community can do with cancer in 2025. It’s pretty amazing.
So… why “broadcast” this very personal thing? I hesitated at first because I didn’t want it to come across as a “hey… look at me” thing, or as an attempt to get people to feel sorry for me. But I also realized it’s a safe bet a HUGE portion of those who hang out with me every day listening to the morning show have had to deal with cancer in one way or another. And maybe by relaying my experience, it will help reinforce that if you ARE dealing with cancer, you are SO not alone. I also thought it could be encouragement for others to NOT hesitate if there’s something that needs to be checked out. The very real possibility that a cancer can be effectively treated – even cured – increases drastically when it’s found EARLY. The embarrassment or hassle of checking with your doctor when something seems off, is DWARFED by the fact that if it IS something that needs to be addressed, getting started sooner rather than later will make a huge difference.
Through the process, I’ve done my best to keep the effect on the morning show that I love so much to a minimum, but the reality is that I could only hold out for so long. So I hope you will forgive me if there have been days when my voice was sounding off and when perhaps it would have been smarter to refrain from posting on social media with my weary and fatigued mug. I’ve done my best to put on a happy face.
I am BEYOND grateful to the awesome people I work with at WERS – professional staff and students alike – who have been so understanding and encouraging and supportive. I truly appreciate my WERS family. They rock.
Speaking of families, you learn in times of crisis the power of those around you. My wife Margaret has been incredible, and during this time she has seen a cranky side of me that I didn’t know existed. She works in medicine, which could be argued is a mixed blessing when a family member is dealing with something like this. My sons have been great with their Dad through all this. Love those dudes. And I’ve discovered that you have a great opportunity for some deep conversations with your mom or sister when they’re kindly taking time to hang out with you for several hours while you’re getting chemo. My mom and my sisters are awesome.
The gratitude train rolls on to thank the INCREDIBLE people at Mass Eye and Ear and Mass General in Boston, and the super humans at the Mass General Vernon Cancer Center at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, who have spent the most time with me and are nothing short of saints. I am thankful for the cheery people at the front desks checking me in every day with a smile and a good word, even when I showed up late (I yam what I yam). I’m thankful for the radiation oncology and medical oncology teams, made up of extremely talented medical assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, specialists, and doctors. I am also grateful for the team of radiation oncology technicians – masterfully running the “zapping machine” as I called it – who saw me EVERY day and made a very serious thing more fun. In full disclosure, I did give them all Mornings with George Knight t-shirts, but that’s because I just can’t stop promoting. 🙂
It takes a very special type of person with a very specialized skill set to do what they all do. Yes, they need to have a crazy amount of knowledge and awareness and talent to know what’s going on with the cancer and how to deal with it, but it’s also critical they have the people skills needed to keep communication strong, and make the process less stressful and less scary. I have been SO lucky to have them on my side, and I need to find a word stronger than gratitude to express how I feel about that. Thank you.
So… recovery begins. It’s not going to be an immediate turnaround, but I’ll get there. Thanks for hearing me out.
-George Knight
