Rose: I Feel Great

PROVO -- BYU head basketball coach Dave Rose addressed the media Monday to announce that the results of his recent cancer scan came back normal, that he is feeling well and he is ready to coach. Following is a transcript of the press conference:

Opening Remarks

I just wanted to update you on my situation. Hopefully this will be one of the last times that I have the opportunity to do this. I will have regularly-scheduled checks as part of my therapy for the cancer that I have. When the results are where they are like they were on Friday, where everything has come back normal, I hope that will just be a regular day and I hope to have many more of these because that means I’m still around and things are going good. I feel great.

The doctors are extremely confident that they are right on top of the situation. They removed all of the disease and it has not returned nor does it show any signs of returning right now. We have rescheduled for a scan six months from now and so now I will just go on with how I feel – and I feel great. I have good energy and good strength.

As I have said many times, there are two things that are really important in this. Number one is how grateful I am for all the support I have received from every possible venue around. Other schools, other coaches, fans, the administration, conference administration, the media – the support my family and I have received has been terrific and has helped us in many ways. I also feel that I have truly been blessed and that this will be an event in our lives that will make us better people. Hopefully it’ll make me a better coach and make our team better and that we can always remember it and monitor it, but continue to move forward and accomplish the goals we want to accomplish while we’re here at BYU.

How long do the scans take and how long does it take to get the results?

The scan takes about 45 minutes and then there is a half hour break. Then you go see the surgeon and the surgeon reads the scan and then comes in and explains it all to you. The time leading up to Friday, things were great – but Friday was a little intense. For some reason you want to check your blood pressure before you go in there and they want to check it and you say, “Come on man, I know it’s going to be up there!”

It’s not a long process, it’s not evasive, it’s an MRI. And then you go and meet with them. I feel really confident that the doctors that are reading the scans and handling my individual situation seem to be experts in my type of tumor. Although I receive a lot of advice from a lot of other people, I am really sticking to these doctors and I believe they’ve got it all covered.

Have they set the date for your next scan?

Yes, and it is sometime in March, so it’ll be flexible. The people at the Huntsman Institute are terrific. I want to make sure that I give this all the attention it deserves, without any distractions for our team. It is a busy time of year and it’s later in March and I’ll tell you right now that I hope there is a conflict.

Read more about Rose's scan and his battle with cancer in an article by ESPN.com's Andy Katz.

Listen to the entire press conference on Greg Wrubell's Cougar Tracks on KSL.com.