Even as successful and famous television stars, the Chapman family is still not immune from the enormous cost of cancer care.
In “Dog’s Most Wanted” on the WGN Network, Duane Chapman is seen talking to his wife Beth as she was undergoing treatment and asking if she is well enough to go out on a hunt for a fugitive. Dog tells Beth, “Let’s see if you’re up to this (bounty hunting). I Got To Go Make Us Some Money, This Cancer Is Expensive.”
Read MoreBeing in the public eye is a choice. There are huge benefits to the kind of fame the Chapmans have won through their television career, but there are also downsides such as attacks they’ve endured from internet trolls.
"Everything we do right now is being publicized," Bonnie said. "And it's hard sometimes, because we're trying to keep it together. Right now is the most fragile time of our lives."
Going Out “In Her Boots”
Even as Beth Chapman fought lung cancer, she continued to do what she loved most capture fugitives from the law. In a new preview of "Dog's Most Wanted" on WGN America, the Chapman kids attempting to catch a fugitive, and Beth Chapman takes care of them and instructs them about how to do it right.
"That was a typical rookie move, OK? As I said to Cecily and Dakota, 'Don't let that guy get out. Block him in,’" Beth says in the clip as her children swarm a fugitive car, getting on top of it, and unfortunately letting him get away. "Fugitive three, bounty hunters none."
Beth's cancer journey
Beth was originally diagnosed with stage II throat cancer in 2017, and after treatment, was declared cancer free. Then, she was diagnosed again the following year with stage IV lung cancer. After the second diagnosis, she decided to forego chemotherapy, relying instead on her Christian faith. (A decision that Beth announced on Mother's Day of this year).
The journey became more difficult yet toward the end, when Beth Chapman was put into a medically induced coma to alleviate some of her pain and stress after a choking incident related to her cancer.
Beth Chapman ultimately died at age 51 in Honolulu, Hawaii, surrounded by family members and those who loved her.
The Chapman family went on to hold two emotional memorial services for their motherone in Hawaii, and one in Aurora, Colorado. The two locations were where Beth and Dog Chapman split most of their free time when they weren't bounty hunting for criminals.
Information about dealing with fear and negative emotions during cancer
Anxiety and fear are totally normal reactions to the news of cancer, and acknowledging these emotions can be therapeutic and important to the healing process.
"I think the most important advice I would give to someone who has just received a cancer diagnosis is to find people whom they find as a source of support. To allow themselves to go through all of the different emotional reactions to that news," said Dr. Susan Parons, Director of the Center for Health Solutions/Center on Child and Family Outcomes at Tufts Medical Center, in a prior interview with SurvivorNet. Dr. Parsons did not comment on this case specifically.
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