Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood opened up about his recent battle with lung cancer after it was discovered during a routine check up in May.
The cancerous lesion was found after Wood went in for a check up prior to the band’s upcoming tour later this year. After the diagnosis, Wood underwent a five hour operation to remove part of his lung, according to the Daily Mail.
I’ve had a fight with a touch of lung cancer. There was a week when everything hung in the balance and it could have been curtains – time to say goodbye. You never know what is going to happen.
He had recently kicked smoking before the birth of his twin daughters last year, but Wood said he was prepared for the circumstances that came with his substance abuse over the years.
I had this thought at the back of my mind after I gave up smoking a year ago: ‘How can I have got through 50 years of chain-smoking – and all the rest of my bad habits – without something going on in there?’
Wood kept the news private and waited to see if the cancer would spread through his body.
I was prepared for bad news but I also had faith it would be OK. Apart from the doctors, we didn’t tell anyone because we didn’t want to put anyone else though the hell we were going through. But I made up my mind that if it had spread I wasn’t going to go through chemo, I wasn’t going to use that bayonet in my body…A week later they came back with the news that it hadn’t spread and I said, ‘Let’s get it out now.’ Just before I closed my eyes for the operation I looked at the doctor and said, ‘Let battle commence.’
His surgery proved successful and after going through his battle, Wood hopes to use this experience to inform others to get checked.
I’m OK now. But I’m going to have a check-up every three months. They caught it early. People have to get checked. Seriously have to get checked. I was bloody lucky but then I’ve always had a very strong guardian angel looking out for me. By rights I shouldn’t be here.
Wood is expected to take the stage once again, joining his bandmates on their No Filter tour later this year starting on September 9 in Hamburg, Germany.