Christopher Reeve's widow announces she has lung cancer

[Assistant 134]

NEW YORK (AP) ? Dana Reeve, who spent nine years caring for her paralyzed husband, Christopher Reeve, until his death last year, announced Tuesday that she has lung cancer.
Reeve, 44, said she decided to disclose her illness following rumors about her health in the media.

"I have recently been diagnosed with lung cancer, and am currently undergoing treatment," Reeve said in a statement. "I have an excellent team of physicians, and we are optimistic about my prognosis."

"Now, more than ever, I feel Chris with me as I face this challenge," she said. "As always, I look to him as the ultimate example of defying the odds with strength, courage and hope in the face of life's adversities."

Reeve, who starred in the Superman films, was paralyzed in a horse-riding accident in 1995. He died Oct. 10, 2004.

Dana Reeve, an actress, was a constant companion and supporter of her husband during his long ordeal and his work for a cure for spinal cord injuries.

She is chairwoman of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, which funds research on paralysis. To date, it has awarded $55 million in research grants and $7.5 million in quality of life grants. :cry: :(

[Lucas The Tucas]

Thanks for the post of very BAD news..

I wish that she didn't have that...

Lucas :cry:

[Greg WibblyWobbly]

Misery so early in the morning......

[Old Mr. Grace]

The really frustrating part is that she says she's not a smoker and is a victim of second-hand smoking. I had a co-worker who developed lung cancer as a result of second-hand smoking. He never smoked in his life but he was exposed to his parents smoking when he was growing up.

[missmacinthorpe]

The really frustrating part is that she says she's not a smoker and is a victim of second-hand smoking. I had a co-worker who developed lung cancer as a result of second-hand smoking. He never smoked in his life but he was exposed to his parents smoking when he was growing up.

She used to work as a nightclub singer; that may have been where she was affected by the second-hand smoking.

Miss Jackson

[lovepink]

I feel sorry for her now someone will have take care of her kids as she go through treament. :cry:

[Tiddles]

I feel sorry for her now someone will have take care of her kids as she go through treament. :cry:

I don't know what type of treatments she's getting but in my Mom's case we spent about one half hour a day recently for radiation appts. It took longer to drive there than to actually be treated for the cancer. The actual radiation treatment is very fast....takes less than 5 minutes. *Zap ZAP ZAP* and you're outta there. Which is just as well because you have to sit in the waiting area with people who are REALLY in a bad way. I didn't think it's good for her morale.

[Assistant 134]

Cancer claims Superman's widow
11:15AM, Wed Mar 8 2006

The wife of late Superman actor Christopher Reeve, who became an influential health activist after the star's death, has died.

Dana Reeve, who nursed the paralysed actor for nine years until his death in 2004, has died of lung cancer at the age of 44.

The Christopher Reeve Foundation, which backs research on the treatment of spinal cord injuries said Mrs Reeve, a nonsmoker and mother of a teenage son, had died on Monday night.

Although Mrs Reeve had announced her cancer diagnosis in August to an outpouring of sympathy and support from admirers around the world, her death seemed sudden.

Mrs Reeve died at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Medical Center in Manhattan. She leaves a son, Will, whom she had with Christopher Reeve.

Former President Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton described Mrs Reeve as "a model of tenacity and grace."

Christopher and Dana Reeve married in 1992. Life changed drastically for the glamorous showbiz couple three years later when Christopher Reeve suffered near-total paralysis in a horse-riding accident and almost died.

With him, she became an activist in the search for a cure for spinal cord injuries. :cry: :cry: :(

[Old Mr. Grace]

I was very saddened to her that she has passed away. In January she was here in Atlanta for an event for the Christopher Reeve Foundation. They interviewed her on one of our local news stations and she didn't look well then. :cry: