CHICAGO -- Eddie Olczyk snickered when asked how he feels during an off week, one in which he doesn't have a chemotherapy session, compared to a week when he has one. On a scale of 1-10, he's an 8 1/2 during off weeks. In a chemotherapy week, he's a minus-4.
"It is night and day, for sure," Olczyk said. "The further away from treatment the better I feel. I call them 14-day cycles. Usually by Day Eight I feel some sort of comfortable, the so-called new normal in our household."
Since Olczyk was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer Aug. 4 he's gone up and down, and even below, that 1-10 scale. The good days can be pretty good and the bad days can be awful. But his fight has been an inspiration to many and that support fuels Olczyk every day.
"The side effects are still there," said Olczyk, a TV analyst for the Chicago Blackhawks and the NHL on NBC. "It's a battle. It's something I'm planning on winning and hopefully make people aware of my battle and hopefully keep one person from having to go through this. Because it's pure hell."
On Tuesday, Olczyk will have his eighth chemotherapy session. He'll have 12 in all, the final one set for Feb. 19. He said he's handled the treatments better as they've progressed, his body accepting the medicine now. The early sessions were a different story; Olczyk was in terrible shape. The physical side effects, from nosebleeds to vomiting, were rough enough. But what the treatments did to him psychologically was brutal. After three or four sessions, Olczyk nearly gave up, telling his wife, Diana, "That's it. I'm done. I can't do this."
Olczyk knows others have it much worse. "I see them, sadly, every other week at Northwestern," he said. "For some it's just a matter of time."
That doesn't make his fight and his fears any less overwhelming sometimes.
"I'm scared. I've been scared and I will continue to be scared, which I think is normal," he said. "You think about a lot of things. You think about your mortality, your legacy, my kids, my wife, my family, my friends. I've been to places that I don't want to go again, but this is all part of the battle. But when I do get into those low places, I'm fighting for my family. I'm fighting for somebody I may not even know. I think early it was hard to get out of those black holes. But as I've battled through this, and sadly as it's become a routine, it's not as deep and it's not as exhausting as it was early."
Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane saw the missed call notification on his phone in early August. There also was a text message. Both were from Olczyk.
"Call me when you get a chance."
"Pretty emotional call," Kane said. "You feel for him and his family, what he's going through. But you know he'll get through it and it'll be fun to see him back here full time, because we miss him around here. Eddie's Eddie when he's around here. He's trying to be as normal as possible and still talk about hockey. It's fun to talk about different things and have a conversation with him."
Olczyk has long had a good rapport with Blackhawks players, especially with those who grew up in the Chicago area either watching him play or listening to him on television. He is, after all, one of their own. Growing up in Niles before moving to Palos Heights, Illinois when he was in junior high, Olczyk was taken by the Blackhawks with the No. 3 selection in the 1984 NHL Draft. Though he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins, he started and ended his 16-season NHL career with the Blackhawks (1984-87 and 1998-2000).
Blackhawks forward Tommy Wingels grew up in Wilmette, Illinois, about 15 miles outside of Chicago. He's known Olczyk and his family for years; Olczyk's sons, Tommy and Eddie Jr., and Wingels are around the same age and kept track of each other, especially when they were playing college hockey. Wingels said the few times Olczyk can get to Blackhawks practice or stop by after morning skates are that much more important now.
"I think you take people and things for granted before stuff like this happens and it reminds you not to do that," Wingels said. "He means so much to Chicago hockey, to guys in this room. If he can come by for a couple of minutes, has time for a conversation, guys soak that up as much as they can. Aside from him working for the Blackhawks, he's a guy I call a friend. It's sad to see what he's going through. But he'll pull through."
Olczyk's first broadcast since his diagnosis was when the St. Louis Blues hosted the Chicago Blackhawks on NBCSN on Oct. 18. For the first time in months he was back to his normal routine, prepping for the game and stopping by the Blackhawks locker room after morning skate. It was an emotional night, from his opening comments on the broadcast to when Olczyk was shown on the Scottrade Center video board during the game. Fans gave him a standing ovation as he waved and gave a thumb's up.
NBC play-by-play announcer Mike "Doc" Emrick, who called the game with Olczyk that night, said it reminded him of when former Pittsburgh Penguins center Mario Lemieux, coming back from Hodgkin lymphoma, got the same kind of ovation from Philadelphia Flyers fans.
"It's the universality of, we're supporting someone going through a difficult time," Emrick said. "It's what all great charity ventures are built on: supporting someone going through a hard time."
The drastically cut workload has been an adjustment. Olczyk was a busy man before his diagnosis. Between the Blackhawks games he does locally for NBC Sports Chicago and WGN, national hockey and postseason telecasts with NBCSN and NBC, Olczyk used to do around 120 games per season. He also did several horseracing events with NBC, including the Triple Crown races. Now he works when he can, usually on his non-treatment weeks. He's worked once during a chemotherapy week, when the Blackhawks hosted the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 12; he didn't feel well that night but got through it. He had chemotherapy the morning of Nov. 27, when the Blackhawks hosted their Hockey Fights Cancer night, and dropped the ceremonial puck while wearing a portable pump that gives him additional chemotherapy during a 48-hour span.
Emrick, who beat prostate cancer in 1991, said everything Olczyk's able to do right now is impressive.
"I was out of commission for 4-5 weeks but I didn't have chemotherapy," he said. "I had surgery. But I wasn't working. This guy is bouncing back and every other week he goes out and works. It's not only an inspiration to us, but if he does what he's doing with all he has on his mind, how can the rest of us who are healthy do anything less than 110 percent of our jobs?"
Blackhawks play-by-play man Pat Foley said his working routine with Olczyk hasn't changed at all. Well, maybe there's been one change for the longtime friends.
"I'll say this: We've hugged a lot more than we have in the past," Foley said with a laugh. "I'm sure he's more tired at the end of a game than ever before. There's been a time or two when he's sitting with me when it hasn't been a great day. But the adrenaline of being in a booth and doing what he likes to do, that helps."
The treatments haven't diminished Olczyk's game call. He still has that enthusiasm, still has that strong voice during broadcasts.
"I'd challenge anyone who's listened to him this year to say they can tell a difference. I can't, and I'm sure John Q. Public would agree with that. I think it's amazing," Foley said. "It's remarkable what he's had to put up with and what he's going through. Give him full credit for all of it."
Olczyk said he's fighting more for his family, his wife Diana, his daughter Zandra and his sons, Eddie Jr., Tommy and Nick, even more than he's fighting for himself. The support he's gotten has been overwhelming. Even the family's dogs Lily and Daisy have been a comfort, the black labs sensing when Olczyk has just finished a session and nuzzling up to him to help him feel better. He receives 100-150 cards, letters and other encouraging messages each week. NBC and the Blackhawks have been great; Olczyk said Blackhawks president John McDonough gave him an "open canvas" regarding his work schedule. When Olczyk feels good, he works.
Olczyk said several NHL teams have been "over the top in looking out for me," and said the NHL, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and on-ice officials also have been very supportive.
For motivation, Olczyk crosses significant dates off on a calendar: the day he was diagnosed (Aug. 4), his first chemotherapy session (Sept. 11), his return to the broadcast booth (Oct. 18), the Breeders' Cup (Nov. 3-4), his daughter's graduation from the University of Alabama (Dec. 16), his next chemotherapy session (Dec. 26), all the way to his final chemotherapy session (Feb. 19). Crossing off every date is a goal, an achievement, something to keep his focus in the right place.
"I have to set goals for myself to achieve and pass the time. If not, I'd look at the calendar and look at the clock and go crazy," he said. "It made me hungry to battle through and achieve those goals."
Even after Olczyk finishes his chemotherapy in February, it'll take some time to see where he stands. "We won't know for a couple of months after treatment to see what's taken place, what it's done to my insides," he said.
The fight has been as trying mentally as it's been physically, but Olczyk's not just doing this for himself. He's doing it for his family, for his friends and even for those he hasn't met.
"I would just hope someone can avoid going through this," he said. "Get a colonoscopy or see a doctor if you're not feeling good. That's my goal, to make sure someone doesn't have to go through this if they can stay away from it. It's just a rough go, but I'm trading in six months of hell hopefully for 50 more years. Any GM in the NHL would make that trade, so I'm going to sign up for that, for sure."
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