The Osbourne Family Has Faced Health Challenges
- Sharon survived colon cancer, underwent a preventative double mastectomy
- Ozzy diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease
- Jack manages Multiple Sclerosis
- Kelly tested BRCA1 positive, is also considering mastectomy surgery
The couple’s son, Jack, 34, just revealed that he’s “in active development” on an Osbourne biopic but “can’t say too much,” says Rolling Stone.
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And Sharon Osbourne — who has survived colon cancer and, later, underwent a double mastectomy after discovering she carried the BRCA gene mutation — has had plenty thrown at her.
Their son, Jack, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at 26. Daughter, Kelly, tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation in 2015 and is also considering a prophylactic mastectomy.
And Ozzy is managing Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurological disorder that can cause tremors, stiffness, and difficulty with movement, diagnosed last.year.
Diagnosis: "Shock and Panic"
Osbourne was 49 when she was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2002. For three years, she'd put off seeing a doctor and only went at Ozzy's urging, she told People. "I hate doctors," Sharon admitted. “Ozzy said I had to go. So just to keep him quiet, I went and had a full medical."
"You think nothing will ever happen to you. You're invincible," she said. "Then after you get over the shock and panic, you realize how lucky you are to be alive."
“A polyp is a small growth in the colon that has the potential to grow into cancer,” says Dr. Heather Yeo, a Colorectal Surgeon and Surgical Oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.
Her husband may have saved her life. But the diagnosis left him terrified. “When I heard the news, I completely lost it," he says.
RELATED: Kelly Osbourne: Everybody's Acting Like It's Doomsday, But It's Not
"He was hysterical, just terrified," Sharon added. "The doctor had to come over and sedate him."
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Surgeons removed a foot of her colon, but the cancer was found in her lymph nodes and Sharon underwent three months of chemotherapy. At the time, she addressed the stigma of colon cancer, "Why'd they have to find it in my bum of all places?" she told People. "It's embarrassing. I mean, why couldn't I have had a cute heart-shaped polyp on my vagina?"
Today, Osbourne's clearly over it. She lent her famous face to the American Cancer Society website in March, saying "make your bottom a top priority — get screened for colorectal cancer."
Inspired by the care she received at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A., Osbourne joined forces with surgeon Dr. Edward Phillips to support colon cancer patients in the community. The Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program provides at-home help, childcare, transportation, and access to support groups and patient care services offered within Cedars-Sinai. The program also underwrites colon cancer education for healthcare providers with the goal of expanding screening and educational opportunities.
A Double Mastectomy: “It Was A No Brainer”
After genetic testing revealed Osbourne was at high risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer, Osbourne opted to have a preventative double mastectomy in 2012.
Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a Medical Oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on prophylactic mastectomy for women at high risk of developing breast cancer.
"As soon as I found out I had the breast cancer gene, I thought: 'The odds are not in my favor,‘" she said in an interview with Hello!
"I've had cancer before and I didn't want to live under that cloud: I decided to just take everything off, and had a double mastectomy," she explained. "It was a no-brainer. I didn't even think of my breasts in a nostalgic way, I just wanted to be able to live my life without that fear all the time."
The genetic link impacts, Kelly Osbourne, who discovered that she, too, carries BRCA 1 gene after her mother urged her to get tested in 2015. "I know that one day I will eventually have to do it too," she told the BBC in 2015, speaking of the same prophylactic mastectomy surgery her mother underwent. "If I have children, I want to be there to bring them up."
Colon Cancer: Know the Symptoms
For people under the age of 45 the need to undergo colon cancer screening varies. Some people are considered high-risk and may need to get colonoscopies earlier and more frequently. Another important aspect in the fight against this disease is symptoms. If you're experiencing any of the following symptoms, a conversation with your doctor about screening may be in order:
- Change in bowel habits
- Change in the color of stool
- Abdominal pain
- Unintended weight loss’
- Anemia
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