FB post from Rick, regarding his health news. ( heart emoji)

I just saw this on fb. Wishing all good news for Rick. I hate these reminders of all of our mortality. Safe travels in all types of journeys!

Bless Rick, and all my very best wishes for a full and smooth recovery. I can understand what a shock this diagnosis is to him and his family and loved ones, because DH has gone through the same thing. He is now approaching the 3rd anniversary of his surgery and is cancer free so far. Things like this truly do bring out the importance of living every day to its fullest, and appreciating everything and everyone around you.

If we men live long enough, the vast majority of us will have prostate cancer at one level. It's just hit a little earlier for you.

We certainly wish you well.

Rick,
Your books and films have been an inspiration to me now for more than four decades, ever since buying “Europe Through the Back Door” at my local bookstore. Your book led to my first trip to Europe which— thanks to what you wrote— lasted for two and a half months and led to my love of traveling ever since.
Wishing you a great time as you film in France during the next three weeks and a speedy recovery from surgery thereafter.
All the Best to You,
Ken Kouns
“Kenko”

Thank you Pat for posting this for those of us who aren’t on FB.
Wishing Rick a swift recovery from surgery and cancer free years to come.

My best wishes to you as well. Your enthusiasm and passion for travel has changed and enriched many lives - including mine.

As a family navigating this same journey right now, I can assure you that you are spot on to treasure the little things and your friends and family right now - they are a lifeline in these waters.

Take care.

Oh my goodness I am so sorry to read this but so glad they caught it early. Hoping Rick may see this post and know we are all thinking of him and his loved ones and his care team.

Thank you for sharing this, Pat.

Rick posted the same thing on Twitter so you can send him a positive note that way too. My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer 31 years ago and is still kicking it at 90!! For those of you battling the same type if cancer, I encourage you to keep the faith because prostate cancer can be beat!!
Valerie, I am so sorry to hear you and Ron are going through this same journey. I am sending lots of positive healing vibes and prayers your way. I miss your travel journals.

Like the others, I wish you a speedy and positive outcome Rick! You have changed my life along with this forum and I am so grateful!

Pat,

Thanks for posting this. I don't "do" either Facebook or Twitter so likely wouldn't have seen this news.

Rick has an incredibly positive attitude about his diagnosis and I know he'll be getting the best care that medical science can provide. I don't know if he'll ever read this thread, but my thoughts and prayers are with him, and best wishes for a complete recovery!

Rick, I’m sending you my best wishes for a positive outcome. You have a good attitude and that counts for a lot. You have helped so many of us on our travel journeys and I hope that others can help you on this one.
Much love from the RS community is coming your way!

Best wishes, Rick. Keep on travelin'!

Thanks for posting this Pat, I also wouldn’t have known since I don’t have FB nor twitter.

I admire Rick’s positive attitude.

I will be praying for Rick’s surgery to go well, and ultimately for a complete recovery.

The Guardian posted a news article today, which was helpful to me as I seldom use Facebook.

I wish Rick Steves the best!

Rick,
I just learned you have been diagnosed with Prostate cancer. This coming February, I will be cancer free for 5 years. I will be taking your 14 Day Best of Europe Tour to celebrate. I know your faith is strong. You will be in my prayers.

I am sorry to see this, but you are in excellent hands with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Your strong faith and the expertise of the Hutch doctors both bode well for your successful treatment, with many healthy years ahead.

Wishing you and your family all the best.

So sorry to see this news. I hope you have a speedy recovery so you can keep on travelin’. God bless…

Been there seven years ago. Done that. Have the tee shirt. In time, it will become just be another "adventure" in your life. Good doctors and good nurses are miracle workers. Have Faith and trust, and all will be fine.

So sorry to hear of your cancer diagnosis, but with a supportive family, dear friends, and doctors you trust this too shall pass.
We’ll be Fatima in 3 weeks and will say a prayer for your speedy recovery.

Rick,

Take it from someone who has gone thru cancer and treatments, consider this as just a bump in the road on your journey. As we all know, even the best of plans don’t always go like we dream, but we face the challenge and it just makes us stronger. You are in great hands with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Wishing you all the best, and a quick recovery so you can get back to keep on travelin’, and producing more great episodes for us to enjoy.

Washington Post and NY Times have stories about this as well.

Andrew: I do not do Facebook, so if you think Rick would welcome this, please bounce it over to him.

Wishing you a smooth, comfortable surgery and a speedy comfortable recovery. I always say the BEST cancer is one that HAS been discovered and can be treated (vs. lurking unknowingly in the body for years). The other thing we have always heard is that often men die WITH prostate cancer, not FROM prostate cancer.

My husband fought a very aggressive fast-growing different (not prostate) cancer over a decade ago, and like you, he had the most positive, determined attitude (despite, in his case, extremely aggressive chemo treatments). First thing we did once he got the all-clear? A trip to Ireland....but with some extra cushions (like a private driver to lessen some walking, luggage handling, and allow my spouse to relax a bit more).

Travel tips? Pack light...LOL. Private room, for sure. Leave the valuables at home. Do "unplug" from the office. You have a good team that can handle ANYTHING that should come up -- allow them to wow you!! Seriously, though, with covid spiking a bit right now, use a little extra care on that front (but your oncologist/primary care physician can better advise). Also decide (as a family) how much you would want to say "yes" to food others might want to bring..........it can get overwhelming if not managed carefully....maybe ask a friend to "be in charge" of coordinating what/when food can be enjoyed.. If your household does not want to get overwhelmed with mac and cheese or other casseroles, etc., spread the word that while the thought is appreciated, you are in good shape in that department, but funny cards (or whatever you choose) are welcome. Could be the food thing is just a Southern tradition, though. Ditto for hospital/at-home visits.

Sincere best wishes. You are smart from a business perspective to "get the word out there" and manage the narrative.

Please keep us all posted.

Thank you all for your kind words. I'm sharing this thread with Rick. -Andrew

We are all rooting for you Rick. You are in very good hands at the Hutch. The knowledge, support and compassion demonstrated by everyone there is incomparable. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Thinking of you, Rick. Sending positive thoughts and prayers your way.

Rick hang in there brother! You are right that Fred Hutch is the cream - you are in great hands. All in the rearview before you know it :)

Take care!

Hank

Thank you Andrew.

Rick---we're with you all the way!

Wishing you the very best, Rick. Hopefully this will be a very small bump in the road...

Rick, I'm not using hyperbole when I say your travel wisdom has changed my life. Best wishes to you as you embark on this new 'adventure'. If a positive outlook is good medicine, you're going to be just fine. I'll be thinking of you and sending all the positive thoughts your way.

Thanks Pat for posting.

Rick has changed the way I travel and my life has been greatly enriched by his books, tours, and the community he has created. I wish him all the best in recovery.

Rick, thoughts and prayers are with you. I had the same diagnosis and same surgery that you're probably having 3 and 1/2 years ago. First three months are sort of tough and bothersome, but gets better progressively after that. Just follow the doctors' advice, which I'm sure you'll do. I have been to Europe three times since then, including 2 RS tours. I'm sure you'll be back for next season. Take care and best wishes.

Hang in there, Rick! Wishing you speedy recovery and the very best of outcomes!
While you're laid up for a month, maybe come hang out here in sandbox (or the zoo, if you were to ask the Webby some days. HA! )? We'd love to have ya. :O)

Sending good wishes to Rick. Thanks to Europe Through the Back Door and Rick Steves Italy, I had the confidence to plan our first trip to Europe in 1997 (two weeks in Northern Italy). Everything went well on that trip and all subsequent trips, thanks to the incredibly helpful information provided in the guide books and the forum, which I joined in 2018/2019.

Not that one more reply will be meaningful, but I wish you the best and I appreciate how much you have done for all of us who travel and dream of new travels. Your impact is amazing. I wish you a speedy recovery when surgery does happen and I wish you many more years of travel and the joy it brings (and the joy you share with so many).

Welcome to the survivor’s club in advance. You will be fine but please do not rush your recovery. Take time out to let your body and spirit heal. Rushing the process only causes more headaches down the road.

a health update from Rick Steves - https://x.com/RickSteves/status/1843844907833950542

Thanks for all the support since I first told you about my prostate cancer diagnosis. I promised you an update when I shared this news back in August — and I’m happy to say that I’m home now after successful surgery and a night in the hospital. (Packing light for my homecoming, I left my prostate there.)

Thanks for the update! I don't use "X" so hadn't seen any updates yet. What a positive and inspiring post from Rick!

Here's the full update:

Dear Facebook friends,

Thanks for all the support since I first told you about my prostate cancer diagnosis. I promised you an update when I shared this news back in August — and I’m happy to say that I’m home now after successful surgery and a night in the hospital. (Packing light for my homecoming, I left my prostate there.)

Since I was first diagnosed, I’ve thought of cancer as the latest adventure in a lifetime of travels — and like always, I’m excited to share a trip report with you.

My journey began with a blood draw to screen for prostate cancer. I was told that, at my age, a PSA score of 4 or greater would be considered “abnormal.” So, when I got the shocking news that I had a PSA score of 55, it was like I’d been thrown into a new land fraught with mystery and uncertainty. Suddenly swept away from my general practitioner and into the world of oncology, I needed to make important decisions about things I knew nothing of… and I barely spoke the language.

In my case, I had options (basically non-surgical treatments or just cut it out). Caring people with strong opinions and lessons from experience weighed in as if in a debate tournament, competing in the interest of my health.

Psychologically, I was inclined to embrace the “ectomy” route — cut it out. And in my case (where the cancer is, how it’s acting, and my willingness to deal with — or live with — the side effects), it seemed surgery was my best option. After talking with my doctor and carefully considering each treatment strategy, I chose to undergo a robotic radical prostatectomy.

On the big morning, my alarm rings at 4:30 a.m.… and the day for surgery is finally here — certainly a high point on this journey’s itinerary: Drive through a sleepy world, check in, strip down… gown up. A moment of prayer with my surgeon and Shelley (my angel caregiver through the physical and emotional white water of this ride). Then, careen gracefully down the hallway on a gurney (feeling kind of melodramatic to actually live the POV of so many movie scenes) and enter the operating room — which is reassuringly filled with an awe-inspiring mix of masked-up experts, technology, sterility, and humanity. I give myself over to the crew that now holds my very future in their hands. The ventilation mask lowers… take three… deep… breaths… and…

I wake up feeling great, chatty, and making jokes I think are clever… clearly on some serious medicine. Thankfully, my doctor has a good report: Surgery went well, there was no sign of any spread, and the cancer seems to have been embedded deep in my prostate, which is now at the lab.

Before the surgery, I had two visions of my cancerous prostate: a small apple with an invisible rot at its core and an old dandelion with missing spores. My wish was the apple, and that’s what I got. But we won’t really know how “it went” until the lab reports are in. And that’s when I hope to hear the words “cancer-free.”

But for now, I’m still in the next stage of this trip: “the road to recovery.” Buckling myself gingerly into the passenger seat, I was overcome with thankfulness: that I live in a corner of the world where hospitals aren’t being bombed or flooded... that I have access to a brilliant UW Medicine surgeon and the best tech anywhere at Seattle’s Fred Hutch Cancer Center... that I am surrounded by the love and support of so many…and receiving quality care in a major medical crisis with no concerns about crippling costs (which for a citizen of any great nation should be a civil liberty). Yes, I am thankful.

(continued...)

(continued...)

On my first day back home (when not napping), I read through cards and social media comments from caring people sharing experiences and cheering me on. All those good vibes, warm thoughts, and fervent prayers — while intangible — took on a kind of tangibility as they collectively worked to fill my sails with hope and strength to finish this journey successfully. Thank you.

It wasn’t so long ago that people called cancer “the C word,” or if they called it by name, they did so in a whisper. As anyone who gets cancer learns, it permeates all corners of our society, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of or to hide — and when it comes to older men, it seems being tested for prostate cancer (a simple blood test you can request from your GP) is a smart idea.

As for me, the next step is to get my catheter taken out — after which I’ll be steep on the incontinence learning curve. Then, I’ll get the lab reports. (I’ll be sure to keep you posted.)

In the meantime, I’m making a point to celebrate the vibrancy that fills my world... to give thanks for everything that works well in my body... and to meditate on how communities, technologies, and livable environments that we enjoy are not accidental — they happen when good people care and do good things.

I’m looking forward to many more years of happy travels — and, of course, I’ll be sure to bring you along!

Rick

Going234 & Mary,

Thanks for sharing Rick’s update!

Will continue praying for Rick’s complete recovery.

So grateful to read the update, and so inspired by the activism he's doing by sharing his story and normalizing what it actually means to live in a body (routine screening; cancer; surgery; incontinence).

Relative to Rick's decision, my husband knew a surgeon who said that when people asked him "what's the best kind of cancer to have?", the surgeon replied "the kind that's in a jar"