Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Bossy Diagnosed With Lung Cancer, Jill Biden Urges Women to Get Breast Cancer Screenings and More

Mike Bossy, Hall of Fame hockey player, shared that he has lung cancer.

Mike Bossy, a Hockey Hall of Fame player who previously played for the New York Islanders, announced this Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Bossy was working as a hockey analyst with TVA Sport but said he will be taking some time away from the position to undergo treatment.

"I can assure you that I intend to fight with the determination that you have seen me display on the ice and in my game. That same determination that helped me achieve my dreams," Bossy wrote in an open letter, according to ESPN. Bossy, who is Canadian, shared the letter in French on TVA’s website.

Bossy, now 64, played for the Islanders from 1977 to 1987 before retiring early due to chronic back problems. He was 30 when he retired and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame several years later, in 1991.

“The battle I am about to wage will not be easy. Know that I will give my 100%, nothing less, with the objective of meeting you again soon, after a very eventful hockey game. You will never be very far in my thoughts. On the contrary, you will occupy a privileged place and you will be one of my motivations to get better,” Bossy wrote.

“Like athletes who are about to deliver the performance of their lives, I will need all of my strength and focus. Surrounded by my family and friends, I wish to preserve this sacred and peaceful space, far from cameras and interviews.”

Olivia Newton-John shared an update on her breast cancer diagnosis and had a tearful moment with Hoda Kotb on Today.

Olivia Newton-John, 73, spoke to Hoda Kotb on Today this week about her journey with stage 4 breast cancer. She was first diagnosed in 1992, and then her cancer returned in both 2013 and 2017. In 2017, she learned the cancer had spread to her bones.

"I'm winning over it well and that's how I see it," Newton-John said. "I don't think about it a lot, to be honest. Denial is a really good thing and I'm getting stronger and better all the time! I'm doing well!"

Newton-John and Kotb shared a tearful moment during the interview, after Kotb explained her own breast cancer experience.

"I'm really sorry you went through that," Newton-John said. "I didn't know that about you. So you're well now, you're doing good?"

Kotb said she is doing well now and thanked her for asking, to which Newton-John replied, “Oh, of course. We're sisters. Anyone that has gone on this journey with cancer, it's unknown destinations and surprises and turns.”

Child who went viral due to a photo of his sister comforting him during treatment was declared cancer-free.

Beckett Burge, who was diagnosed with pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 4, was declared cancer-free and finished treatment on Oct. 15.

A photo of Burge and his sister from two years ago had spread across the internet at the time as it sparked emotions in many social media users. The photo depicts Burge’s sister comforting him as he stands over the toilet, presumably sick due to cancer treatments.

"One thing they don't tell you about childhood cancer is that it affects the entire family," his mother, Kaitlin Burge, said in 2018.

Burge finished his treatment at Children’s Medical Center Plano in Texas and is now back to playing baseball and going to school. He shared that he wouldn’t have been able to do it if it weren’t for his sister.

“She always stands up for me whenever I had cancer,” he said.

The family is excited for the future after the long cancer journey they endured together.

"There's light at the end of the tunnel" Burge’s mother advised. "Keep your head up. Take it one day at a time."

Jill Biden urged women to get screened for breast cancer.

Jill Biden, First Lady of the U.S., spoke to Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” this week about the importance of breast cancer screening.

“We were afraid of the pandemic, afraid of the virus, but now I think that we’ve moved on a little bit and people are vaccinated," Biden said. "We have to make sure that we have to get the message out. The next thing you have to do today is call your doc and get in there and get your screenings. If you go get that mammogram and they catch it early, you have a fighting chance.”

Biden has been a breast cancer research advocate since the 1990s after several loved ones were affected by the disease. In 2017, she spoke at CURE®’s fifth annual MPN Heroes™ gala.

“I had four friends who were diagnosed with breast cancer at the same time,” Biden said. “Unfortunately, we lost one of those friends, and I was so upset. I thought, ‘What can I do? There has to be something.’ I thought, ‘I know education inside and out, and so let's start to educate people.’”

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