OCTOBER 29: Norris has announced on Instagram that his surgery was successful and that he is considered cancer-free. That’s obviously outstanding news. Hopefully, the surgery has not only secured Norris’s long-term health, but also will allow him to resume his promising career in short order.
OCTOBER 19: Tigers lefty Daniel Norris announced today on Instagram that he has been diagnosed with cancer in his thyroid. He will undergo surgery soon to remove the malignant growth.
Needless to say, the news is shocking, particularly given that Norris is just 22 years of age. On the bright side, of course, many of the factors that made him a top pitching prospect — youth, physical strength, and mental toughness — will serve him well as he battles this new foe.
Also providing hope for a good prognosis is the fact that Norris played out the season despite receiving the diagnosis several months back. He indicates in his announcement that he got the news prior to his trade from the Blue Jays to the Tigers, but was advised that it was safe to hold off on having the procedure. Remarkably, Norris performed quite well in a late-season run of eight starts with Detroit.
MLBTR extends its very best wishes to Daniel, who was kind enough to join the MLBTR Podcast back in early August. Already an inspirational figure for his approach to life, he’ll no doubt continue to set an example as he tackles cancer.
Wait … the Tigers made the trade for this kid knowing he had cancer?
Possibly. It’s an unusual situation certainly, but appears to be very treatable given that the doctors said he could finish out the season and then deal with it. No cancer is “easy,” but thyroid cancer is typically treatable and others have comeback from different cancers and been able to resume their careers pretty quickly.
Best wishes to Daniel and his family through this…
From everything indicated, it’s one of the “easier”, relative to other forms of cancer, ones to treat. So they had no reason not to trade for him as a potential TOR starter if they felt he’d recover. Hope that he is able to overcome this to realize those high expectations
Be a fighter, Daniel Norris. All the best.
There was a 19 year old hockey player in the NHL that had the surgery last October and was back in action a few weeks later. Google Maata. Missed majority of the year for a shoulder surgery but the thyroid surgery didn’t keep him out long.
Yup Olli Maatta of the Penguins, missed only 2 weeks.
Keep on praying
From a family member who has a cancerous thyroid, I hear it’s very treatable. Either way, I wish Norris luck
What a bright, young talent and an interesting guy. I’ll be praying for his speedy recovery and I know he’s got what it takes to fight this.
Obviously you never want to hear about someone getting Cancer, but all things considered, if you have to get a Cancer, this is the one to get.
I’ll spare the details of what causes this, but in short, if you catch the Cancer while it is still contained to just the thyroid, there is a 100% survival rate.
If you don’t catch it until it has spread to the lymph nodes, there is still a 98% survival rate.
The only long term post surgery impact is that you need to take a daily pill in the morning to replicate the functions of your thyroid after its been removed and you cannot have dairy or take a multi-vitamin within 4 hours of taking the pill. No physical limitations. No loss if bodily functions, no loss in quality of life (unless you’re a huge buttermilk pancakes fan for breakfast).
From the sounds of it, if he was advised he could wait for surgery and given how young he is, Norris likely caught this in the very early stages of Cancer and is not at risk yet for it spreading outside the thyroid.
Good luck to Daniel Norris and I look forward to seeing him pitch again when he arrives at Spring Training.
“cancer” is lowercase, not uppercase. It’s cancer, not Cancer.
I hope I don’t get to meet him
All the best Daniel – ive no doubts we’ll see him back in the rotation come Opening Day 2016…
Best of luck to you Daniel. As a KC sports fan who just got to see Eric Berry come back from lymphoma in less than a year and is already back to performing well, I’m sure it’ll be the same for you. Keep your head up.
That is great news!
Great news. All the best to him.
Wow, hits close for me: I found out I have “likely” malignant papillary cancer which is likely what he has. Thankfully it’s a very curable/treatable thing and I just need to have part/all of my thyroid in the next 3-6 months.
Great news Daniel! Sadly, I lost my grandmother to thyroid cancer. May she RIP, but Im glad Daniel is okay!