An Open Letter From Rich Shertenlieb To The Listeners
BOSTON (CBS) - The following is a Facebook post from late last night on Rich's personal account.
Hey guys hey
I want to say a sincere THANK YOU to all the T&R listeners who have reached out to me over the last several weeks.
I first wish to apologize to all of you for missing so much time on the air over the last month and a half. As many of you may know, my wife Mary found out that her cancer had returned for a third time this June. This news was quite frankly devastating for all of us. ...CBS was kind enough to give my family some time just to get away and be with each other for a while, because we knew that during the following several months my wife would be fighting for her life once again.
During Mary's first relapse this past Winter, I took very little time off from work because everything, from her chemo to her transplant, went so smoothly. Unfortunately this time was not the case.
We knew going into this that Mary would be facing the strongest round of chemo she's had to face yet. The doctors were taking absolutely no chances this time around. And almost immediately after the chemo had finished being pumped into her blood, the scares began.
Her blood pressure dropped so low that they were minutes away from putting her in the ICU. Miraculously, her BP slowly returned to normal. She had issues that prevented her from eating, and even though she is now able to get nutrition through an IV, she hasn't eaten anything in 9 days. But our biggest scare was on Saturday when one of the doctors informed us that Mary had a blood clot in her neck, and there was essentially nothing we could do except hope that it didn't slide into her lungs or brain. Time stopped. I couldn't leave her from that moment on.
It ends up that we dodged a bullet, as several ultrasounds days later have confirmed that there was indeed no clot.
The good news is that now all of her numbers seem to slowly be going in the right direction (knock on wood), but we are far from out of the woods yet.
I can't thank Fred and the rest of the guys on the show for letting me lean on them over the last several weeks, or the last two years for that matter. There were many nights where I came in straight from the hospital with almost zero sleep with very little prepared for that day's show, but Fred would take up the slack. There were days where I would leave immediately after the show and come straight to the hospital, or the several times I've even left during the show to come to the hospital. It's not a fair spot to put Fred, Jon, and the rest of the show in...but they never complained once and have been amazing to my family through all this.
But most of all, you guys have been amazing. Thanks to everyone who reached out, everyone who continued to support not only the show, but my wife and me. I'm not sure how much I will be on or off the air over the next few months, but just know that I truly miss working with my friends and talking to you guys. I'll be back on the air soon, and the way things as of late seem to be going here in the hospital, it may be sooner rather than later.
Steak and eggs,
- Rich
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