A Two-Time Cancer Survivor
- The Rolling Stones’ guitarist Ronnie Wood, 73, says that he has been given an “all clear” after beating cancer for the second time, and credits his family and sobriety to getting through his health battles.
- Wood beat lung cancer in 2018 after having part of his lung removed, and has said that he was smoking over 25 cigarettes per day. Now he has an “all clear” on small-cell cancer, an even more aggressive type.
- A leading expert tells SurvivorNet why it’s crucial for past and present smokers to get scans of their lungs in order to potentially catch the disease early enough to treat.
The father of 4-year-old twin daughters Alice and Grace credits his health, sobriety, and a higher power to coming out on the other end with an “all-clear.”
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The rocker, who has been in rehab eight times, says he gave up drugs and drinking in 2009, which prepared him for these two fights.
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Wood, who started out in The Faces with singer Rod Stewart in the early ’70s, always knew he was going to join his “favorite band” led by front man Mick Jagger, 77.
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“I always knew I was gonna end up in this band,” Wood told Stuff last year of joining the Stones in 1975. “I remember walking around the periphery of Hyde Park in ’69, and this big car pulls up through a whole sea of people and out steps Mick and [Stones drummer] Charlie [Watts]. Mick comes up and says, ‘Ullo, Face,’ which is what he called me then, ’cause I was in the Faces. And we talk away for a while and then they say, 'Okay, we gotta go and play. We’ll see you soon.’ And I said, 'Yeah, sooner than you think.’ I was always confident I would end up in this band, and a few years later I did.”
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Now, Wood has been using painting as a form of therapy while on break from touring due to the pandemic, and dealing with his health. He often uses his daughters and wife Sally Humphreys, 43, as his subjects. (The musician also has four grown children from previous relationships.)
His daughters have given him a new lease on life, although he has worked hard to get healthy for himself. “I love having my girls with me as much as possible. I'm very hands-on,” he told the Daily Mail after they were born.
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He also incorporates some of his affirmations into his artwork, which he auctions off for charity to help people in recovery. “When I take care of myself, I can achieve anything,” one of his paintings reads, a pretty solid mantra that has luckily worked out for the west London native.
“That is something I can live by," he said.
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What is Small Cell Cancer?
Wood needed a 5-hour surgery and had part of his lung removed from his first lung cancer battle, and has admitted he was smoking over 25 cigarettes per day for many years. Luckily, he was able to stop smoking and also quit smoking weed the week before his twins were born.
Then he was diagnosed again with an even more aggressive type of the disease during the pandemic.
Related: Advanced Small Cell Lung Cancers Can Benefit from the Promising Immunotherapy Drug Keytruda
Small-cell cancer is less common but more aggressive than non small cell cancer. Small cell lung cancer is when cells form in the tissues of the lung. According to the National Cancer Institute, “smoking is the major risk factor for small cell lung cancer.”
Symptoms to look out for: coughing, shortness of breath and chest pain.
Dr. Patrick Forde, director of thoracic oncology research at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, says getting screened early for lung cancer is a must if you are a past or present smoker.
"Over the last few years, there's been a number of studies looking at using low dose CT scans of the chest in patients who have a history of smoking to try and pick up lung cancers in earlier stage," Dr. Forde tell SurvivorNet. "About 70% to 80% of patients who are diagnosed with lung cancer, unfortunately, the cancer has spread outside of the lung and is not suitable for surgery." So, in other words, if you're a smoker, go get checked.
Former & Current Heavy Smokers Should Get Lung Cancer Screenings Using CT Scan, Says Leading Expert
Lung Cancer in Smokers vs. Non-Smokers
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