Workload blocks woman from finding disease

Eagle-eyed viewer in Tampa tips off TV reporter to neck lump that's cancerous and requires surgery

A 28-year-old Tampa TV investigative reporter last week credited a viewer with helping her find a cancerous lump.

Victoria Price

According to a story by Johnny Diaz in The New York Times, Victoria Price was to undergo surgery today to remove a neck tumor, her thyroid "and a couple of lymph nodes."

Price reportedly has been fatigued but had attributed that to her heavy workload. "Full-throttle, never-ending shifts in a never-ending news cycle" is how the Florida reporter labeled it in a Twitter post.

Then she added, "Had I never received that email, I never would have called my doctor. The cancer would have continued to spread. It's a scary and humbling thought."

She also said she expected to "be forever grateful for the woman who went out of her way to email me, a total stranger. She had zero obligation to, but she did anyway."

Said Price, pointing out that the catchphrase of her station, WFLA-TV, is "8 On Your Side" but the woman had reversed the roles, putting "a viewer on MY side."

Diaz also wrote that it's "not the first time a keen viewer has spotted a medical issue of a TV personality." One of them came to light in April of last year "when Deborah Norville, the anchor of the syndicated news program 'Inside Edition' had surgery to remove a cancerous nodule from her neck. She said she had been monitoring the lump after a viewer noticed it on her neck and brought it to her attention."

In a video message, Norville had said: "We live in a world of 'see something, say something,' and I'm really glad we do."

Clearly, early detection of a disease can be of great medical benefit. More examples can be found in "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.