Tami Curtis Health Update

[Caudawg]

For those of you who haven't heard, Tami was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer and underwent surgery on Wednesday to remove her thyroid and lymph nodes. I spoke to her yesterday afternoon and she was doing great although still a bit groggy from the med's and anesthesia. The surgery went very well and her prognosis is very good. Tami mentioned that this type of cancer is one of the easier forms of cancer to beat because it stays fairly isolated and the success rate for her surgical procedure is very high.

Tami was told that the first words that came out of her mouth in post-op were "I want to go fishing!" The doctors and nurses apparently got a huge kick out of that.

Tami has had a great year fishing as a Triple A on the WON Bass circuit and is leading the overall Angler of the Year for the Triple A Division going into the Western Classic where she said she plans to be no matter what. She said that winning the AAA Angler of the Year honor was her goal from the beginning of the year and feels great to be on the cusp of doing so.

On behalf of WesternBass we wish Tami a speedy recovery and congratulations on her accomplishments in tournaments this year as well as her great work on TC Sports Report http://tcsportsreport.blogspot.com/

[scottsweet]

Tami, I wish you a full recovery.

For those who don't know Tami personally, she is an amazing woman who not only is a great stick, but a great person with a smile that lights up the room whereever she goes.

I hope to see you at the Bassathon!

[WON BASSIN]

Tami has really done well this year in our Won Bass Pro/Am events, and we are all pulling for her speedy recovery here at Won Bass. She had postponed her surgery to be able to fish our last Southern Won Bass Lake Mead event, and it definitely paid of for her, as she moved up into the lead for AOY in the AAA division after her great performance at Mead. She fished the final day with Mike Hawkins on day two and when she and Mike approached the scales with their 5 fish limit, you could tell she had it in the bag. She was smiles from ear to ear, and when their final weight was announced she jumped up and gave Mike a high-five and a hug. It's great to hear she is pulling through so well after what would be a very scary situation for many. We look forward to her speedy recovery and seeing her at the Western Classic very soon. Keep up the great work Tami, you deserve it!

[backseatfishergirl]

Hey...how did you sneak those pets in to the hospital?

[george]

Get Well Tami! You will be back on the water soon; prayers are with ya....

George

[Kevin]

Get well Tami!

[Takedown]

Get Well Soon Tami!

We look forward to your speedy recovery and seeing you at the Western Classic.

[GKramer]

That woman will do about anything for publicity. All the best, Tami! Glad to hear the good prognosis.

[dannyfox40]

Tami I talk to your doc he said no fishing for 4mo get well soon see you at TOC

[dannyfox40]

Tami I talk to your doc he said no fishing for 4mo get well soon see you at TOC

[flippenfool]

Tami,
Im glad to hear your doing well, and congrats on a fantstic year thus far. You had me pretty scared when I first heard the news while fishing Clear lake last month. Knowing you your probably having a fit sitting in a hospital and cant wait to return to the water. I know the feeling. I have all the faith in the world in you that you will have a great finish at the Western Classic.
Talk to you soon,

[ScottyJ]

Dang Tami you even make a hospital gown look good . For what its worth, my mom too had thyroid cancer and went thru the same operation as you and made a full recovery without any problems. It is one of the best cancers to have IF you have to get one. Take it easy and stay positive and you will be back on the water before you know it.

Scott Johnson

[tunaman]

Best of luck with your recovery Tami... I'll see you on the water again next season!

Roger

[Smitty]

Tami,
Julie and I wish you well. Take your time getting back. We wish you all the best in your recovery.
Smitty

[DanIsaac]

Tami,

God Bless, and GET WELL SOON !

Spring will be here before you know it !

Dan

[Kevin Stewart]

Glad to here everything went good.
Wish you well and will see you at the Classic!!!!

[Tobey]

My wife and I just met you at Clearlake this year and we are very happy to hear you are doing well.
Good luck at the classic!

Ron and Lesa Tobey

[TJ]

Thank you everyone for all your concern, humor, and words of encouragement. I got on the internet late last night and saw all the responses. It made my week!
I'm typing this response from my hospital bed. I'm still a bit groggy. The surgery was 5 hours. They took out my whole thyroid, and lymph nodes on my left side of the neck. They kept me a day extra for precautionary, and maybe again this evening. I'm sleeping mostly, I just transitioned from a liquid diet to a real meal last night! I'm on about 3 walks a day and I feel like I'm very close to going home.
Cancer is never good, but it is very true, if you are going to have cancer, this is the one you want. Most people are totally cured! Everything is going to be fine.

btw...the cat and dog are volunteers that go around to visit patients...that was a great surprise! I was so delirious during their visit, I almost thought I was in a veterinarian hospital!

Thanks again everyone...it means a lot to me. My breakfast just got here, so I'm going to eat, and take another nap! See you guys on the water soon. I'm doing everything possible to try to make the TOC, but I might be missing a tourney or 2 at the beginning of the new fishing season! It is what it is! That okay.... I'll see you guys on the water soon!

[Rod Wynn]

Get well soon Tami!!

[mark poulson]

Get well soon Tami!!

+1 You'll do fine.

[NorCal Angler]

Keep getting better Tami.

[GW]

hopefully by the time your reading this post your at home. Glad to hear everything went well. Hope you make a complete and speedy recovery.

[kane-o]

tami, never met you, but i am also a cancer survivor of 2 1/2 years now. i had my left kidney removed in june of 09'. it was horrible, and had to do a year of chemo too.. so i missed 2 years of fishing. but im back on the water... sending prayers for a full recovery for you, you look great in the hospital bed. keep your spirits high, and keep positive, and you will become another cancer suvivor too.... and congrats on a great year on the fishing tourneyments... get well and get back on the water !! blessings

[Vernonn]

Tami, I've never met you but I'm a friend of Johnny in Sacramento. He talks about you often. I just want to send you my best wishes on a speedy recovery. I love watching the videos of Mike and the others. I hope you get back to doing what you love to do soon.
-vernon

[TJ]

I was released from the hospital on Saturday, and have been recovering at home...once again mostly sleeping, but still groggy. Today I have been up quite a bit and feeling great! I just got back from the Dr's office this morning for follow up and to have a drainage tube removed...and things are looking WAY BETTER than we were ready for. They took out 28 lymph nodes and only 4 were cancerous. That's great news! We anticipate that the iodine radiation pills will be able to take care of any remaining! As this cancer is curable in most everyone, it still takes time out to deal with. Originally, I thought I would be up and ready to go back to work and fishing withing 1 hour of the 5 HOUR surgery...boy was I wrong! While being down and "out of it", it was nice to have support from those that I know and have never met before.

Thanks EVERYONE for your support, here on the forum, and personal messages, texts, calls, etc. You are all part of my fishing family, and it means the world to me!

I truly lucked out, getting a highly skilled group of Dr's/Surgeons. Because of their experience, knowledge and PASSION for what they do, they were all able to figure things out VERY quickly, and very efficiently!

Special thanks:
Dr Whipple and Dr Lee from Lincoln medical, and the highly skilled biopsy guy that saved us a bunch of time by figuring things out quickly!

My Surgeon Dr John Lee,and from Sutter Medical Group, and Surgeon Dr Lisa Guirguis, and their staff! Dr Lee is such a skilled Surgeon! I don't ever wish to go under the knife again, but if I do, I would request it to be Dr Lee.

The Sutter General Hospital team (Dr's, nurses, housekeeping, dietitians, the volunteers, animals, etc) Everyone was so kind and their positive attitude is so helpful to us patients! Thank You!

My close friends and my parents that were with me and also helped me through out this whole process.

...and my awesome hospital roommates that love life as much as I do. Their positive attitudes and sense of humor was great during their stay there!

[Caudawg]

Glad to hear you are doing well, Tami! Good luck at the Western Classic!

[Gary Dobyns]

Glad you're doing well. I was kinda scared about your voice after surgery, lots of those problems. It was awesome to hear the same voice. All of us Western Anglers need your help, so get back to work soon.

[JimmyReese]

Thanks for your update Tami!

Scott said it best! "when you walk into a room you light up the place!" Thanks for your professionalism and your positive energy, it is contageous! We are praying for you to have a successful and speedy recovery! Hurry back cause we have filming to do!

[kb]

She is filming with me at Folsom before she does the hair highlighting video with you Jimmy.....Secret hair tips of the Pro's!!!!! who is gonna watch that anyway......

Get better Tami and yell if you need anything

kb

[JimmyReese]

Your hilarious KB! You may want to watch our video since obviously you havnt looked in a mirror lately!

And since Tami did make me look better than i am, im sure she can work wonders for you too! oh unless her camera doesnt have the extra wide lense capabilities!

[dbbasser]

Get well Tami .....

Danny