Cal Ripken Jr cancer, free after surgery in March

 Cal Ripken Jr cancer, free after surgery in March.

Orioles legend and Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. revealed Thursday that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in February and is “cancer free” after surgery in March.

“The surgery couldn’t have gone better,” Ripken said. “The outcome couldn’t have gone better, and I’ve resumed doing everything I did before. It’s a pretty miraculous few months.”

Baseball’s Ironman, who is preparing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his breaking Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games record of 2,131 on Sept. 6, referred to the diagnosis as “a moment in your life that you don’t want to hear.

“We all know people that have had different cancers and you kind of wonder, how would you feel if it happened to you?” said Ripken, whose father, Cal Ripken Sr., died of lung cancer in 1999. “I know what that feels like now.”

Ripken said he had “no symptoms whatsoever” with a normal-sized prostate for someone his age. He turns 60 on Monday. Levels on his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which measures proteins that typically are contained to the prostate that reach the bloodstream, were moving “just incrementally,” Ripken said. He and his doctor thought that could be explained by him riding his bike or simple aging.

Still, he went to see a urologist, and tests there pushed Ripken to have a biopsy.

“When you get into this sort of age frame, I guess the risk factor continues to go up,” Ripken said. “It was just a precaution, and I’m thankful that I was pushed to do it.”

When that test turned up cancer, Ripken said the consensus for his path forward was surgery. It’s recommended that patients wait three weeks after the biopsy for surgery, and Ripken said he didn’t have to schedule the surgery so soon after the biopsy, but the growing concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic pushed him to do it quickly.

Post-operation tests revealed that the cancer was contained to the prostate.

“You can resume your normal life, so I thank my lucky stars that occurred,” Ripken said.

According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, one in nine men will be affected by prostate cancer, making it the most common non-skin cancer. Risk factors shoot up exponentially once men reach 50, with 97% of cases occurring in men over that age and 60% of all cases in men 65 and older. Those with direct relatives who have had prostate cancer are also at increased risk.

Symptoms can include difficulties urinating and pain in that area of the body, though the PSA test and a digital rectal exam can screen for prostate cancer without symptoms.

Once it’s detected, 99% of patients whose cancer is contained the to prostate live for five years or more, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Billy Ripken, Cal’s younger brother, said he got the news at the end of their annual Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation Aspire Gala on March 2.

“He goes, ‘Hey, you got a minute?’” Billy Ripken said. “I said, ‘Uh-oh.’ We’re not a, ‘Hey, you got a minute?’ type family.”