MLB

Curt Schilling reveals mouth cancer: ‘I wish I never dipped’

In the wake of Tony Gwynn’s passing in mid-June, from cancer of the salivary gland, the prevalence and risk of chewing tobacco has become more of a talking point in baseball. Now another prominent cancer-stricken player is speaking out on the issue.

Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling announced Tuesday on the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon that his cancer diagnosis in February was for mouth cancer, and he blames his longtime use of chewing tobacco.

“I do believe without a doubt, unquestionably that chewing [tobacco] is what gave me cancer, and I’m not going to sit up here from the pedestal and preach about chewing,” he said. “I will say this: I did for about 30 years. It was an addictive habit. I can think of so many times in my life when it was so relaxing to just sit back and have a dip and do whatever, and I lost my sense of smell, my taste buds for the most part. I had gum issues, they bled, all this other stuff.

“None of it was enough to ever make me quit. The pain that I was in going through this treatment, the second or third day it was the only thing in my life that had that I wish I could go back and never have dipped. Not once. It was so painful.”

During his treatment for mouth cancer, or squamous cell carcinoma, Schilling — who was generously listed at 205 pounds during his playing career — lost 75 pounds. He was unable to swallow, and also lost the ability to taste and smell.

Schilling said the cancer diagnosis came about as the result of a dog bite.

“I got bitten by a dog and I had some damage to my finger and I went to see a doctor, and the day that I went to see the doctor, I was driving and I went to rub my neck and I felt a lump on the left side of my neck. And I knew immediately it wasn’t normal,” he said. “So there happened to be an ENT [Ear, Nose and Throat] right next door to the hand doctor, and I thought, ‘What the heck, let me just stop in and see,’ and so I waited in the office and went in there and they did the biopsy, and two days later, they diagnosed me with squamous cell carcinoma.”

Schilling was declared cancer-free in June.