In a recent interview with England's The Daily Mail, Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, who had smoked for 50 years prior to his wife giving birth to twin daughters last year, revealed he was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year.
During a routine check in May, his doctor discovered "a supernova burning away on my left lung … He asked me what I wanted to do and my answer was simple: ‘Just get it out of me.’"
Ronnie Wood said he had to wait for a week before receiving his test results: "There was a week when everything hung in the balance and it could have been curtains, time to say goodbye."
When asked if he would have considered chemo Wood said no, but not because he didn’t think it would work. "It’s more I wasn’t going to lose my hair. This hair wasn’t going anywhere. I said, ‘No way.’ And I just kept the faith it would be all right."
Thankfully, Wood's cancer hadn’t spread to his lymph nodes, he is healthy for now.
Wood warned: "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."
Portions of this story courtesy theguardian.com