Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis announces he’s completed chemotherapy

In late December he announced a doctor told him he was cancer free. But this spring, a biopsy indicated that cancerous cells still existed and had spread.
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Bettis pitching during Phillies game. (Chloe Aiello/Denverite)

Chad Bettis announced on Tuesday that he's completed his final round of chemotherapy.

The Colorado Rockies pitcher went through approximately two months of treatment after learning in early March that he still had cancer. Bettis announced the news that he'd completed chemotherapy on Instagram.

"Just got done with my last day of chemo!!" Bettis' post read.

"My family and I want to thank you for all your support and prayers! We're eternally grateful for y'all. We are excited to move forward and start the process of getting back. Again, thank you! We love you ?? #letsgettowork"

Bettis, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer, had surgery to remove one of his testicles in late November. In late December he said a doctor told him he was cancer free. But a biopsy this spring indicated that cancerous cells still existed and had spread.

Bettis announced plans on March 10 to fight the cancer via chemotherapy.

“It’s in the 90-plus percent cure rate,” Bettis said at the time. “It’s something that’s really high. I think that just after surgery it was being proactive in the sense of whether or not I needed to go through something like this. Knowing that we caught it early, like I said, the blood tumor markers being nondetectable and everything being normal is huge. We caught this early, and it’s a big thing.”

Bettis, 28, was Colorado's innings pitched leader in 2016 with 186. He had a 4.79 ERA with 138 strikeouts.

The Rockies have called upon several rookie starting pitchers — most notably Antonio Senzatela and Kyle Freeland — while Bettis has battled cancer and with ace Jon Gray recovering from a stress fracture in his foot. The rookies have performed well, helping Colorado get out to a 24-15 start.

It's unclear when Bettis will be able to resume baseball activities. This looks like a step in the right direction for him, though.

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