Best wishes for Benny

[pfc_m_drake]

Hospitalized and in ICU. Doesn't sound good.

http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/01/05/bparsons.hospitalized/index.html

:(

Keep fighting champ!

[Andrew Longman]

Cancer gone but the treatment badly damaged the lung?

Evil disease.

Benny is good good 'ol boy

[theunions]

Cancer gone but the treatment badly damaged the lung?

If he specificially had radiation, that could easily explain it.

[greenie]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/05/entertainment_itv_at_50/img/7.jpg

prayers to Little Jackie Wright as well.

[oddlycalm]

'The cancer is gone ... see ya.' " Welcome to cancer therapy in the USA Benny.


the cancer treatment reportedly left his left lung too damaged to function properly So what, he's "cured" isn't he...?:shakehead

If this was an isolated situation it wouldn't bear comment, but this is more like the rule, not the exception. Talk to anyone that survived massive chemo and/or radiation and you have a high likelihood of talking to someone that has side effects ranging from serious to life threatening and difficulty getting any effective treatment for them.

oc

[TKGAngel]

Speed's reporting that Bobby Hamilton Sr. lost his battle with cancer today. :(

[nrc]

So what, he's "cured" isn't he...?:shakehead

If this was an isolated situation it wouldn't bear comment, but this is more like the rule, not the exception. Talk to anyone that survived massive chemo and/or radiation and you have a high likelihood of talking to someone that has side effects ranging from serious to life threatening and difficulty getting any effective treatment for them.

oc

Yes, it's terrible. Instead we should all wait for Dr. McCoy to show up and wave a salt shaker over us to make it all go away. :shakehead

[Cam]

Yes, it's terrible. Instead we should all wait for Dr. McCoy to show up and wave a salt shaker over us to make it all go away. :shakehead

Ummmm..... Richard, both oc and myself have been thru it. We absolutely wish McCoy would appear but we realistically know that he aint about to materialize in front of us.

Radiation therapy has done a pretty severe number on me. It wasn't the surgery. At least for now I have been declared cancer free. Minimalizing the effect of the cures available and the effects they have on the patient is unfair.

[theunions]

oc is 100% correct.

[DagoFast]

Jeebus.

So basically, the best thing to do after a confirmed diagnosis is to just hijack a beer truck and head for the moonlight bunny ranch?

[nrc]

Ummmm..... Richard, both oc and myself have been thru it. We absolutely wish McCoy would appear but we realistically know that he aint about to materialize in front of us.

I understand. My dad went through the same thing. I saw him live with the damage for years after his radiation therapy. Later in life he wasn't strong enough to withstand the chemo after colon cancer. Yes, it's a terrible disease that sometimes requires terrible treatments.

I'm sorry for your hardships and I hope I never have to experience that. But I'm glad I had my Dad around for 15 years after his radiation therapy.

[Chitowncartfreak]

My thoughts are with the Parsons and Hamilton families.

A member of my family was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer about 4 months ago and has been undergoing very aggressive chemo and radiation treatments. Yes, the treatments are very severe and have nasty side effects, but they have been effective in reducing the cancer. The doctors now think they can control the disease with medication. The medication also has some side effects, but it is a much better option than the alternative. The advancement of cancer treatment in the United States is amazing. Even if doctors can't always treat cancer 100%, there are many alternatives available that can change the prognosis from a matter of months to several years. I pray for the day when treating cancer is as routine as removing an appendix or tonsils.

[oddlycalm]

I'm glad I had my Dad around for 15 years after his radiation therapy.Of course, and I'm very happy to be here to complain about it 21yrs after my first diagnosis of three (which was actually wrong BTW). I went through a full course of radiation and later two full courses of heavy chemo.

My point is that 21yrs later the medical community still has done little about treatment of the side effects yet there is much that could be done. There is no specialty in post treatment care and most hematoligists and radiation oncologists are either too focused on patients with active disease (where they make their money) or not well versed in treating these side effects.

The other issue is that many medical practices actively avoid taking on "trainwrecks" with complicated pre-existing conditions while others may take the patient but mentally write them off and don't treat their conditions aggressively. If the patient is also elderly, the above goes double.

I would be the last person to tell someone to refuse effective treatment because of the side effects, but I can say with 100% certainty that the medical community has mostly failed in their responsibility to offer continued treatment to cancer survivors.

oc

[RaceGrrl]

You know, as devastating as the side effects of treatment are, the cost of no treatment at all is worse. I know.. having just lost Dad a year ago to a cancer that was too aggressive for any treatment. I'd rather have him around impaired than dead.

As in all professions, there are good docs and bad ones. I happen to work for one of the good ones whose practice consists of trainwreck patients. OC, I'm sorry that you've been let down by the medical community, but there are good physicians out there who still live by the oath they took.

[The Doctor]

RIP BP. :(

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/nascar/nextel/34834/

[TrueBrit]

Rest in peace Benny.

[Chitowncartfreak]

Very, very sad news. Rest in peace, Benny. My thoughts are with his family.

[Accipiter]

Benny was a major part of my racing education. :(

[Audi_A4]

:(

[Wally]

RIP BP...:shakehead

[TKGAngel]

Rest in peace, Benny. :(

That's the second death NASCAR's had in the past month. If you subscribe to the theory that these things happen in threes, this has the potential to not be a good Speedweeks.

[pfc_m_drake]

:(

[Elmo T]

:(

Reading all this about lung cancer brought back a story last year about finding carbon fiber in the lungs of drivers and/or team members. (I couldn't locate it after a quick Google search.) Granted that wasn't the issue here, but it makes me wonder about problems 20 years from now....

[DagoFast]

:( Godspeed Benny.

[Ziggy]

RIP Benny, came across as a good guy. I have heard a few stories.....


oc - I suggest starting a new thread to further this discussion. I think it is a worthwhile pursuit of conversation

[JohnHKart]

Very sad, I loved his broadcasts and his time with John Kernan on RPM Tonight. He will be very much missed.

John

[Tim]

BP and Earnhardt were the only reasons I ever watched nascar. Sadly they are both gone. Godspeed BP.

[Chitowncartfreak]

Very nice commentary by Ray Dunlap.

http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/34838/

[SteveH]

Sad news.

[Mary]

Very sad, RIP, Benny.

Mary