Yahoo Finance Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen reveals wife Nicole's brain cancer diagnosis
Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen revealed on Sunday something he and his wife have been battling for the past 10 months.
Mike’s wife, Nicole, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, and has an aggressive, cancerous tumor on the front left portion of her brain.
“As resistant as we’ve been to sort of talk about it, we felt like we needed to at some point,” Mike said, via the Arizona Republic. “We felt like this was an appropriate time to talk about it and then hopefully we’ll go back to our private approach to figuring out the best way to help Nicole.”
Hazen: This is 'an ongoing battle'
Glioblastoma, according to the Mayo Clinic, is an aggressive type of cancer that occurs in the brain or spinal cord, and can often be difficult to treat.
Nicole, 44, underwent surgery in August, and doctors removed as much of the tumor as they could. She also underwent chemotherapy and radiation, but is still experiencing some symptoms.
Mike said he and Nicole first realized there was an issue last May, when Nicole started having a seizure at their home.She still experiences seizures to this day.
“This is sort of an ongoing battle,” Hazen said, via the Arizona Republic. “A lot of times the first line of defense in some of these cases hasn’t always proven to be fruitful. There’s a lot of new therapies and drugs coming online all the time. She’ll be a candidate to be a part of those things and we’re hopeful that one of those is going to prove to be the answer that she’s been looking for.”
Mike took over with the Diamondbacks in 2016. He still managed to keep working with the team last season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, though did sit out on some road trips.
Though Nicole’s cancer undoubtedly made things more difficult, Mike was actually grateful for the extra time he got to spend working from home during the pandemic. That way, he was able to help Nicole out and spend more time with their four sons.
How they move forward, however, remains to be seen.
“Given the state of the world this last year, working from home and being there for the kids and for Nicole and being able to do our jobs more remotely has sort of been a blessing in that regard,” he said, via the Arizona Republic. “As the world opens back up and things become less about that, we’ll have to see where we’re at and what’s best for Nicole. That’s going to take precedence over everything else.”
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