By Colton Wood
DETROIT – Scott Hamilton thought it was just an ulcer.
In 1997, figure skating icon Hamilton was 50 cities into a 60-city ice tour and could no longer stand the pain he was suffering through, so he went to the emergency room to get medication, a decision that will forever be etched in Hamilton’s mind.
Hamilton, 38 at the time, soon learned his pain wasn’t the result of an ulcer. Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist, had testicular cancer.
After watching his mother struggle with cancer, Hamilton, who eventually lost her to cancer at 18, was frightened by his diagnosis.