Former CNY broadcaster Ron Bee's family asks for prayers after life-saving procedure fails

After a yearlong battle with leukemia, time is running out for veteran radio broadcaster Ron Bee.

According to Bee's son, Jonathan, a stem cell transplant that Bee hoped would prolong his life was unsuccessful. A priest came to Bee's hospital room in Seattle Sunday to perform last rites -- a Catholic prayer commonly given before death.

"Holding Dad's hand and enjoying what little time I may have left with him," Jonathan posted on Facebook Sunday.

Last spring, Bee was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He attributed the sickness to his exposure to Agent Orange while serving in the Vietnam War.

He opted for a stem cell transplant -- a complicated procedure, but one that could have given him several more years. Bee went to Seattle earlier this year to undergo the procedure. He said last September that one in three patients who undergo the surgery don't make it out of the hospital.

The transplant was unsuccessful.

"The doctors have stopped all medications related to his transplant," Jonathan Bee said Monday via email. "He's still getting medications to combat fevers and nausea to keep him comfortable and the morphine to take away any pain he has."

Jonathan said he has remained at his father's side along with his mother (Ron's wife), Tina.

Bee spent nearly 35 years on the radio waves in Syracuse, including a long run on B104.7 FM with Becky Palmer and as part of the "Rick & Ron" show on WOLF AM. He retired in 2007 after a car accident and moved to Phoenix, Ariz.

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