Roger O’Donnell is opening up about his battle with Lymphoma one year later.
The Cure keyboardist revealed his diagnosis in a post for Blood Cancer Awareness Month on Sunday after he was diagnosed with the “very rare and aggressive” cancer in September 2023 and subsequently underwent treatment.
“September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month so it’s a good opportunity to have a dialogue about these diseases,” O’Donnell started in a series of posts on X. “In September last year I was diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive form of lymphoma. I had ignored the symptoms for a few months but finally went and after surgery the result of the biopsy was devastating.”
He explained that he’s now “fine” and has an “amazing” prognosis after undergoing several rounds of treatment over the past year.
“I’ve now 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. I had the benefit of the latest sci-fi immunotherapy and some drugs that were first used 100 years ago. The last phase of treatment was radiotherapy which also was one of the first treatments developed against cancer. I’m fine and the prognosis is amazing,” added O’Donnell.
O’Donnell went on to urge others to get tested for cancer so they can catch and better treat it early. “The mad axe murderer knocked on the door and we didn’t answer,” he wrote. “Cancer CAN be beaten but if you are diagnosed early enough you stand a way better chance, so all I have to say is go GET TESTED, if you have the faintest thought you may have symptoms go and get checked out.
“If you know someone who is ill or suffering talk to them, every single word helps, believe me I know. I would also like to thank my Drs, rockstars everyone of them, all the nurses and technicians, my friends, family and Mimi, sometimes its harder to be on the other side of this…” added O’Donnell.
The artist’s diagnosis came after he joined The Cure on the North American leg of their Shows of a Lost World Tour from May to September 2023.