It's a bittersweet thing, indeed, to be signed as a cast member of "Skating for Life Benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure."

Just ask four-time World Champion Kurt Browning, one of the world's best-loved and respected skaters.

He knows the sobering drill:

If you're on the roster of the two-hour NBC special being taped Wednesday night at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum (see accompanying story), that means your life has been indelibly marked by the "C" word.

Specifically the "C" word as it applies to the breast, both female and male.

In Browning's case, it's the latter, which is not something people think about or talk about much. But his father, Dewey, is battling breast cancer as he speaks.

And this attack of the "C" word (Browning's term) is not the first to strike his life and loved ones: He lost his mother to the disease in 2000 and "my very young father-in-law" in 2003.

"And now it's my dad," he says with emotion. "I'm very familiar with the 'C' word."

Complicating Browning's desire to "do it for dad" and the loved ones no longer present is the fact that he has just learned that a dormant knee problem has resurfaced to the point that it will likely require surgery.

Browning says he learned the diagnosis just minutes before this interview, "so I didn't even know for sure until just now if I'd be able tell you I'm coming!"

The surgery, he says, is scheduled a week after the "Skating for Life" taping in Bloomington.

He will perform as scheduled, he says, but has scaled back a bit on the more demanding foot moves.

Among the pieces of music he'll perform to is one of his dad's favorite songs, Jim Croce's ballad, "Time in a Bottle," a long-time part of Kurt's repertoire that has taken on added significance for both father and son.

"Yes, it has a lot of meaning in a lot of ways now," says the son.

Browning says he knows that part of what he'll be asked to do during the "Skating for Life" taping is to offer a personal testimony on his experiences with breast cancer.

After all, the special airs during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it is designed to raise not only awareness but money for vanquishing the disease.

Executive producer Steve Disson says the plan is to tape interviews with the performers under more controlled and intimate circumstances than during Wednesday night's taping.

"We know that it's an emotional thing for them," he says, "and we couldn't ask them to do it right after they perform." The segments will be edited into the version of the show telecast on NBC from 3 to 5 p.m. Oct. 25.

"I don't know," Browning muses. "You don't want to get sappy and play the sad card all night long - I don't think anyone wants that."

On the other hand, this is a deeply personal subject for everyone on board, and Browning knows the emotions will be there on the surface for one and all.

As bad as his experiences with the "C" word have been, he says he knows things could be worse.

"I've done a lot of work with diseases of children, and so when you see children struck with something like that, it just eats you up from the inside. It least it's always been with adults in my life. I can't imagine if one of my children was stricken how I would deal with it."

He pauses.

"So you take the good with the bad, and you savor the good even more.

"Besides, as my father keeps reminding me, how many people end their work day to the sound of people clapping?"

Dad's view: "How great it is that?"

Son's view: Pretty darned great indeed.

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At a glance

What: Skating for Life Benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: U.S. Cellular Coliseum, 101 S. Madison St., Bloomington

Tickets: $30 to $105

Box office number: (866) 891-9992

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More about the event

The host

• Peggy Fleming, Olympic gold medalist: survivor

The singer

• Sara Evans, country singer: aunt a survivor

The skaters

• Jeffrey Buttle, Olympic Bronze Medalist, three-time Canadian Champion: breast cancer runs in family, great aunt died

• Sasha Cohen, U.S. National Champion and Olympic silver medalist: grandmother a survivor

• Emily Hughes, U.S. National silver medalist: mother a survivor

• Rudy Galindo, U.S. National Champion: 103-year-old great aunt a survivor

• Jennifer Robinson, 6-time Canadian National Champion: one grandmother a survivor, one grandmother died

• Steven Cousins, 8-time British National Champion: aunt died

• Silvia Fontana: Italian National Champion: mother a survivor

• Rene Inoue & John Baldwin: 2-time U.S. National Champions: John's mother a survivor, Rene a survivor (of lung cancer)

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Editor's note

In a last-minute development on the "Skating for Life" front, champion skater Kurt Browning - the subject of today's GO! cover story - has been forced to bow out of the show because of the worsening condition of his father, described in the accompanying interview. His replacement is Olympic Bronze Medalist Jeffrey Buttle.