Cancer changed everything for reality-tv star Tamra Judge, 53, and her ex-husband, Simon Barney. Although their divorce was messy, Judge has been supportive during Barney’s treatment for stage 3 throat cancer. She fielded a fan question about Barney’s health over the weekend, during a live Instagram chat.
Read MoreCancer Impacts The Whole Family
In March, Judge shared her concern over Simon during the coronavirus crisis with US weekly: "I am worried about Simon,”Having a disease that compromises his immune system means that this could be lethal for him."Dr. Jessica Geiger on HPV and throat cancer
"He is doing everything he can to protect himself, as is his fiancée, Catushia. She is his sole caregiver and now has to be extremely cautious as well," Tamra said. "Due to the fact that he is immune-compromised, the kids also can't be around him, which is heartbreaking for them and for him as well."
When Barney shared his stage 3 throat cancer diagnosis with Judge in November 2019, the news prompted Judge to exit her role on “Real Housewives of Orange County” after 12 seasons. “I was completely destroyed,” Judge to People. “I was a mess! This is the father of my children. Any ill will between the two us just vanished. My first thought was, 'I don't want to take my kids to their dad's funeral.' And my second was, 'I don't want to go back to the show.'”
On “RHOC,” she says, “people are screaming and yelling and arguing about things that don't even matter. Life is precious, and you don't get that time back."
Judge Had Her Own Cancer Scare
Judge sent a sobering message to her Instagram followers in 2019, when she lifted her short-shorts to show a small lesion on her left cheek. The star wrote: "I'm showing you this picture because this is what melanoma looks like. I don't want sympathy, I want you to save YOUR ASS and get your skin checked."
When Judge posts a photo of herself in denim shorts revealing a freckle on her left “cheek” she explained on Instagram: “This is what melanoma looks like,” she wrote. “I don’t want sympathy, I want you to save YOUR a** and get your skin checked.”
“The gold standard for treatment of melanoma is surgical treatment with wide margins,” says Dr. Nima Gharavi, Director of Dermatologic Surgery at Cedars-Sinai.
She put plans to compete in a bodybuilding competition for her 50th birthday on hold. “I’ve been a little sad, worried and p***ed off,” she wrote. “But we caught it early and that makes me happy.”
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Judge said she never suspected that her “small black flat freckle” was cancerous. “It might not look pretty but my margins came back clear. Woot woot,” she wrote of surgery to remove the cancerous cells. “Big thank you to @cacoastalderm see you Tuesday to get my stitches out.”
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