The Cure’s Roger O’Donnell Diagnosed with ‘Rare’ Lymphoma

Cure keyboardist Roger O’Donnell has opened up about his cancer diagnosis.

The 68-year-old musician shared a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, September 1, to mark Blood Cancer Awareness Month in the UK. and aggressive lymphoma.” ,” and talks about his journey with the disease and treatment so far.

“I ignored the symptoms for months, but finally went in and the results of the post-surgery biopsy were devastating,” O’Donnell begins, recalling the first test that led to his diagnosis.

“I have now completed 11 months of treatment with some of the best experts in the world, and received a second opinion and advice from the team who developed the drugs I take,” O’Donnell continued under the black and white photo .

“I benefit from the latest sci-fi immunotherapies and some drugs that were first used 100 years ago,” said the musician, who joined The Cure in 1987. “The final stage of treatment is radiation therapy, which is also one of the first treatments developed to target cancer.

O’Donnell added that he has been doing “fine and the prognosis is amazing” since starting treatment last fall.

“The ax murderer knocked on the door and we didn’t respond,” he joked, before taking the opportunity to urge anyone with symptoms to seek medical attention as soon as possible. “Cancer can be beaten, but if you’re diagnosed early enough, you have a better chance, so I would say get tested and if you have the faintest idea that you might have symptoms, just Go get checked.

Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, the body’s defense against bacteria and disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. Cancer occurs when healthy cells change and grow out of control.

The clinic notes that lymphoma and its various forms, such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, can have many different symptoms, including: fever, night sweats, tiredness, itchy skin, stomach, neck, Painless swelling of lymph nodes in the armpits or pain in the groin, chest, abdomen, or bones, or weight loss.

Taking to Instagram, the keyboardist shared another black and white photo of himself with short hair, crediting the photo to his partner and writing in the caption: “Hair is not a choice hahaha.”

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Last year, The Cure announced that O’Donnell would not join the band for the Latin American leg of their “Shows of a Lost World” tour due to unspecified health reasons. The group wrote on social media at the time that they “wished him a speedy recovery.”

O’Donnell is not the first member of the British rock band to be diagnosed with cancer. The band’s former drummer Andy Anderson died at the age of 68 in February 2019, a week after revealing on Facebook that he had terminal cancer. Rolling Stone.

O’Donnell ended his lengthy X post by asking his followers to speak up for anyone who may be suffering from symptoms of blood cancer.

“If you know someone who is sick or suffering, talk to them. Every word helps – trust me, I know,” he wrote. “I would also like to thank my [doctors]rock stars, every one of them, all the nurses and technicians, my friends, family, and Mimi. Sometimes, it’s harder to be on the other side.