The Cure’s longtime keyboards recently posted to social media to announce that he is in recovery from an extremely aggressive and rare form of lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.
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The post-punk rocker shared this news just ahead of the start of Blood Cancer Awareness Month. O’Donnell’s post is quite sad, but he shares it with a very clear and positive message: Get tested!
“Cancer CAN be beaten but if you are diagnosed early enough you stand a way better chance,” said O’Donnell in the post. “Ao all I have to say is go GET TESTED, if you have the faintest thought you may have symptoms go and get checked out.”
According to O’Donnell himself, the keyboardist experienced symptoms for a few months before a procedure revealed the shocking biopsy result. Fortunately, O’Donnell also noted that currently, his “prognosis is amazing.” However, he did have to tap out of The Cure’s tour of Latin America in 2023 to receive treatment.
O’Donnell ended his post by thanking the doctors, nurses, technicians, friends, and family who helped him through his recovery.
What is Roger O’Donnell’s Diagnosis?
Roger O’Donnell did not mention the exact type of lymphoma he was diagnosed with. Lymphoma in general, though, is a cancer of the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is part of the immune system and is responsible for fighting diseases. It is a type of blood cancer that can affect the lymph nodes, bone marrow, tonsils, spleen, and thymus.
Lymphoma can be aggressive no matter the type. So, it is quite worrying to learn that O’Donnell was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of the cancer.
O’Donnell noted in his X thread that “if you know someone who is ill or suffering talk to them, every single word helps, believe me I know.”
Luckily, it looks like O’Donnell is doing well. He has since completed 11 months of treatment under “some of the finest specialists in the world and with second opinions and advice from the teams that had developed the drugs I was being given.”
O’Donnell didn’t note the exact type of treatment he was recieving, other than immunotherapy and “some drugs that were first used 100 years ago.” He did confirm that he completed radiotherapy as well.
We wish O’Donnel a speedy and painless recovery!
Photo courtesy of Roger O’Donnell’s X account
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