Dan Miller returns to booth to call Lions-Packers game on Sunday
Message of thanks from Dan Miller after community support
Dan Miller joined the Sports Office on Tuesday to thank the community for their support after his wife's death.
(FOX 2) - FOX 2 sports anchor and Detroit Lions play-by-play caller Dan Miller will be back in the booth for the team's game against Green Bay this weekend.
Miller has been on leave since his wife Cindy died earlier in October. She battled a rare cancer diagnosis for years before succumbing on Oct. 10.
"Every donation. Every message you sent. Every text. Every email. They’ve helped lift our family when we needed it most. Thanks to the @Lions and @FOX2News for their incredible support & proving what I already knew, both organizations are all class," Miller wrote on social media. "I’m blessed to work for them."
Miller missed the Lions game against the Arizona Cardinals after his wife passed away from an aggressive form of cancer known as leptomeningeal disease.
Dan Miller returns
What we know:
Sharing on social media Thursday, Miller said he was looking forward to returning to work.
"My family continues to heal, and I want to again thank you for your role in that. The support has been incredible. Over 500 donations for more than 43k to https://LMCancer.org."
What is leptomeningeal disease?
FILE - A nurse operates an MRI scan machine. Getty Images
Big picture view:
Leptomeningeal disease is cancer that has spread from somewhere else in your body to your cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and leptomeninges, according to Cleveland Clinic. Leptomeninges are the membranes that surround your brain and spinal cord.
There isn’t a cure for this type of cancer, and healthcare providers work instead to ease symptoms and keep the cancer from spreading more.
By the numbers:
Approximately 5% of people who have metastatic cancer are diagnosed with leptomeningeal disease, Cleveland Clinic says. Metastatic cancer is cancer that spreads beyond the place where it started.
Dan Miller’s wife's cancer diagnosis
The backstory:
Cindy was first diagnosed with cancer in October 2024, and she had two brain tumors. They had those removed, and then she had about 15 good months, Dan said.
Then she had a recurrence, and learned it was leptomeningeal disease.
What they're saying:
"We had no idea what that was; it was one where Google is not your friend," Dan said Tuesday night on The Sports Office.
"It’s a terminal disease, it’s incurable, and you’re basically just trying to buy time. And we did buy some time; we were blessed to buy some time. But we knew we were going to lose her at some point, and we did. "
"It’s a very rare form of cancer. It’s not one that a lot of people are familiar with, and it’s not one that a lot of people get – but it is one that we need to find some way to attack and find some better treatments for it, so that when people get it they have a better chance to extend life as long as possible," he continued. "There are people that are working on it, but because it’s not one of the cancers a lot of people know about, funding is always an issue."
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The Source: Dan Miller and previous reporting were cited for this story.