James Pickens Jr. is opening up about his health.
In a new interview, the 71-year-old Grey’s Anatomy actor shared that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The news comes after it was revealed on the Grey’s midseason finale that his character Dr. Richard Webber is also battling cancer.
Keep reading to find out more…“It’s not the kind of news anyone wants to hear, but to be honest, prostate cancer has run through my family,” James told Black Health Matters. “My father had it. He had a lot of brothers; several of them had it. I would have been surprised if I hadn’t gotten it.”
“I’ve got a 90-year-old first cousin, who’s still alive, actually, [and] he had it,” he continued. “His son has it, a couple of his brothers had it. No one, as far as I know, has succumbed to it.”
At the end of the new episode of Grey’s that aired on Thursday, November 13, Richard announced that he was diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer.
James went on to share that he was diagnosed earlier this year.
“I started getting my annual physical 34 years ago, and I started my PSA testing when I was 41. I’m 73 now,” he recalled. “My urologist said, ‘Because you were so diligent in that piece of your health, it was to your advantage. We were able to catch it so early because you were being tested.’”
In January, James learned that there was a tumor located on his prostate, but it hadn’t spread further. He then underwent a prostatectomy, which is when a man’s prostate gland is surgically removed.
“We caught it really early, and so they thought that would be the best route to take,” James explained. “I do have a rare variant that you don’t see very often. They wanted to err on the side of caution and keep an eye on it. It was rare enough that they wanted to make sure that they were crossing all the T’s and dotting all their I’s, but they hadn’t seen one that was detected as early as mine.”
Find out when Grey’s Anatomy will be returning after the midseason finale.
Source: justjared.com
