Ron Wood Opens Up About Cancer Scare
Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood‘s cancer scare was apparently a bit scarier than he initially revealed.
During the Spring Wood announced he’d had a small lesion removed from his lung via “keyhole surgery” and all was well and good. But in a new interview with The Mail On Sunday in Britain, Wood says that the situation was more dire at the time, revealing that that, “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…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 through the hell we were going through.”
Wood says the lesion was discovered during a basic pre-tour check-up he and the rest of the Rolling Stone generally go through after he OK’d doctors to “go deeper and check my heart, lungs and blood.” Wood went through weeks of tests to determine if the cancer had spread, and he says that if cancer was found beyond the lesion he “wasn’t go to go through chemo. I wasn’t going to use that bayonet in my body.”
Wood will have a check-up every three months and is sending a message for people to get regular screenings as well; “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.”
Before Wood, Stones drummer Charlie Watts was treated for throat cancer during 2004, while former Stones bassist has revealed he’s battling prostate cancer, though with a prognosis for a full recovery.
The Stones return to the road for a No Filter European tour starting September 9 in Germany.
Gary Graff is an award-winning music journalist who not only covers music but has written books on Bob Seger, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.
