Ron Rivera’s family says the Washington Football Team coach does not have cancer

Football coach Ron Rivera was declared cancer free after a check-up on Thursday, according to tweets from his wife, Stephanie, and daughter Courtney.

Stephanie Rivera tweeted, “Prayers have been answered. Thanks to all the Drs and nurses who ‘trained’ @RiverboatRonHC and me and gave us the winning game plan to defeat cancer. The PET scan said it all, cancer, you lost this fight ! #RiveraStrong “

Courtney Rivera tweeted that she had “just hung up the phone with Mom and Dad leaving the hospital @RiverboatRonHC is officially cancer free !!!”

Courtney Rivera works as a producer for Washington’s social media.

Ron Rivera announced on August 20 that he was diagnosed with squamous cell cancer and needed to undergo seven weeks of treatment during the season, which included three rounds of chemotherapy and proton therapy five days a week.

He ended treatment on October 26. That day, a video captured the moment when he walked down the hall of the Inova Schar Cancer Institute flanked by medical fans – all wearing black “Rivera Strong” T-shirts – culminating in his bell ringing to signify the end.

Although his prognosis was good from the start, treatments took their toll. He had to use a golf cart during training and his energy level dropped. But he only lost three practices and never lost a game, although he admitted that a week earlier in the season he was close to stopping. But he pushed.

He had to adjust his daily routine. He took naps throughout the day – after video conference sessions with reporters, for example. His wife or daughter would take him home in the late afternoon or early evening, as tiredness overwhelmed him.

“Sometimes you get nauseous,” he said in October. “Sometimes your balance gets confused, almost a feeling of dizziness. And then the nausea. It hits you anytime, anywhere. But tiredness, going out to practice it limited me, and it bothers me because I can. T I train like I train. “

Rivera, 59, lost 36 pounds and weighed 232 at one point – six pounds below his game weight with the Chicago Bears in the 1980s.

“I was surprised. Normally our patients, halfway through, stop working,” Dr. John Deeken, an oncologist and president of the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, told ESPN in November. “Most of our patients at the end of treatment are very close to needing to be hospitalized because there are many complications.”

Rivera and Washington were rewarded for winning NFC East. Washington won five of its last seven games, ending 7-9, before losing to Tampa Bay in the playoff wild card round. Players said throughout the season that watching Rivera fight cancer inspired them. The coaches said it made a difference.

“This team, seeing him, understood when he said that we will have opportunities and we will win and we will change the culture; they saw it firsthand because they saw what he’s going to go through, ”said assistant coach and defense coach Richard Rodgers in December. “He remained consistent in what he wanted done.”

Rivera said he would like to become an advocate for affordable health care. His brother Mickey died of pancreatic cancer in 2015.

“After going through this and seeing how expensive it is … you think, ‘God, how can people pay for what is not in the situation or the position I am in?'” He said in November. “It really helped to shape my views, just saying and thinking to myself, we need to have some kind of assistance accessible in the United States for everyone.”

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