Vic Salazar: Mickelson family cancer raising needed awareness

Breast cancer has stunningly attacked Phil Mickelson's wife and mother. (AP photo)

It’s not a double bogey on Phil Mickelson’s scorecard that has our attention this week.

It’s the double whammy he’s facing in his personal life.

His mother, Mary, has been diagnosed with breast cancer.  And it happened less than two months after his wife, Amy, was also diagnosed with the disease.

Phil’s sister, Tina, said she wanted her mother’s condition known so she could receive the same kind of support that followed Amy’s announcement.

I don’t know if the Mickelson family scours the Internet looking for comments of support, but I did. What I found on more than a dozen Web sites shows there are people in this world with huge hearts, who are reaching out to the Mickelson family to share prayers and hugs.  I also found one asinine statement posted by an anonymous imbecile that spurred me to write this column.

To paraphrase this idiot, he or she wondered why anyone would care about a pro golfer’s wife and mother having breast cancer.

I was happy to see a response to that post that hit the nail on the head:  That any type of news coverage about breast cancer can spur people to get tested and in turn, if one life is saved, it is worthwhile.

Phil Mickelson could have easily kept Amy’s condition under wrap.  It is a personal matter.  But by virtue of his celebrity, he and his family have done wonders to advance awareness of breast cancer, a disease that affects 200,000 women and 2,000 men a year.

Mickelson’s counterparts on the PGA tour have donned pink clothing or ribbons to show support for Phil and Amy.  That type of action gets people talking.  So does releasing word about Mary Mickelson’s condition.

I found a great deal of important information about breast cancer on the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Web site. I learned the five-year survival rate for all women diagnosed with breast cancer is 89 percent.  Most will live a full life and never have a recurrence.  I also learned the chances of surviving are better if cancer is detected early.  Early detection can increase the five-year survival rate to 98 percent.

Amy Mickelson underwent surgery last week in Houston.  Mary Mickelson is scheduled for surgery on Friday at the same hospital.  Phil has not made an official announcement, but speculation is he will not play at the British Open next week.

Before the U.S. Open at Bethpage, Mickelson cited the number of annual breast cancer diagnoses when he said, “We don’t feel like we’re alone in this.”  He added, “But to feel that support, it means a lot.”

The support does not appear to be diminishing.  And neither does the role the Mickelson family has assumed in bringing attention to breast cancer.

Vic Salazar is a veteran San Diego journalist and an SDNN sports columnist.

Tags: cancer, golf, mickelson, SDNN

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 8:03 pm and is filed under Sports . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.