Washington's Ron Rivera on verge of final cancer treatment

Washington coach Ron Rivera will have his last treatment for a form of skin cancer on Monday, two months after being diagsed.

Rivera learned in August he had squamous cell carcima , which is considered very treatable when caught as early as his was. 58-year-old missed some practice time but games while undergoing treatments, and has been told his long-term progsis is good.

“I met with both doctors this week on Tuesday and Thursday,” Rivera said. "y both are very positive about progress I’ve made. So, so far so good. I’ve got follow-ups, check-ups and scans still left to do. What I’ve been told is it’s headed in right direction.”

Doctors scheduled Rivera to receive IV fluids at halftime of games to keep him hydrated. While usually prepared for happenings on field with a decade of NFL coaching experience, some things about going through cancer treatment surprised him.

“re are certain things that pop up all of a sudden, side effects that you have: fatigue, how tired you get; at times you get nauseous; honestly at times sometimes your equilibrium is messed with, almost a sense of vertigo,” Rivera said. “n nausea. It hits you at any time, anywhere. (And) fatigue and going out to practice and stuff, it limited me, and that really bors me because I can’t really coach way I coach.”

Rivera has coached through a pandemic, franchise's name change, allegations of sexual harassment in workplace from before his time that came to light after he was hired, and his own cancer battle. Defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio ran practice when Rivera couldn't be at facility.

Washington is 1-5 going into its game Sunday against Dallas Cowboys . Rivera hopes he can get back to coaching like rmal after his treatments are over.

“It’s probably going to take three or four weeks after I get my last treatment because of recovery period, but I really am looking forward to it,” Rivera said.

Im credits: AP