How Dick Vitale & Rick Barnes Use Religion to Help One Another; Many People Lean on Faith During Cancer

Barnes tells the Knoxville News Sentinel, “I think God is using him in a great way. From the time I started texting him a prayer every day, I said to him just the other day, I said it's been good for me. Because it has given me a chance to spend even more time alone with the Lord, (which is) what I need."

"I really have great admiration for Dick,” says Barnes, “because he's a fighter right now. He is fighting a battle that he has fought for so many people. Like I said, he's been an inspiration to a lot of people. Our conversations of late, they've impacted me as much as I think he would say they've impacted him."

Vitale shared news of their ritual on Twitter, writing, “During Texas game vs Vols I shared that ⁦@RickBarnesUT⁩ sends me a DAILY PRAYER to lift my spirits in my battles vs Melanoma,Lymphoma, & my vocal cord problem.I was shocked when he started doing this .This AM after a tough L at Texas he sends me this Rick is special!”

During Texas game vs Vols I shared that ⁦@RickBarnesUT⁩ sends me a DAILY PRAYER to lift my spirits in my battles vs Melanoma,Lymphoma, & my vocal cord problem.I was shocked when he started doing this .This AM after a tough L at Texas he sends me this 🙏🙏🙏 Rick is special! pic.twitter.com/CSW38zRQiB

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) January 30, 2022

Many people, like Barnes and Vitale, believe in the power of prayer during a health crisis like cancer. In an early interview, Beverly Reeves, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, advised that people who are fighting cancer get their faith community together if they have one.

'Faith, Family, and Friends' Helped Beverly Reeves Get Through Ovarian Cancer Treatment

Undertsanding Lymphoma

Vitale announced in October that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma. Months earlier, he’d been diagnosed with melanoma. "For the second time in just a few months, I've been diagnosed with a form of cancer," he wrote in a statement published by ESPN Front Row.

Swelling of the lymph nodes is a common symptom of lymphoma. Other symptoms of Hodgkin Lymphoma may include swelling around the armpits or groin, persistent fatigue, fever, night sweats, unexplained weight loss, and  severe itching. Speak with your doctor if you have any of these symptoms.

Lymphoma begins in white blood cells called lymphocytes. This kind of cancer is typically classified as either Hodgkin Lymphoma or Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The distinction between lies in the white blood cells linked to the disease. If doctors are unable to detect the Reed-Sternberg cell (a giant cell derived from B lymphocytes), then it is categorized as Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

In a previous interview, Dr. Elise Chong, a medical oncologist at Penn Medicine, says lymphoma symptoms can be difficult to detect. "The symptoms of lymphoma, especially if you have a low-grade lymphoma, often are no symptoms. People say, but I feel completely fine, and that's very normal," she explains.

Dr. Elise Chong explains why your type of lymphoma matters

Understanding Melanoma

Vitale not only has lymphoma but he battled melanoma, too. Melanoma accounts for only about 1% of skin cancers but causes a large majority of skin cancer deaths, says the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Surgery is typically the best treatment option for melanoma. Dr. Nima Gharavi, director of dermatologic surgery at Cedars-Sinai, says in an earlier interview, "The gold standard for treatment of melanoma is a surgical treatment with wide margins."

Early-stage melanoma that's close to the skin's surface may be treated with Mohs surgery. This type of surgery is a microscopically controlled procedure that removes skin cancer by conservatively cutting along the entire margin until the surgeon reaches clear tissue. It's most often used to remove other skin cancers like basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas.

Removing Stage Two and Three Melanomas

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