“Young and the Restless” star Eric Braeden said his cancer was initially misdiagnosed and he’s speaking out to encourage other men not to be afraid to get their prostate and bladder examined.
Braeden, 82, shared in a Facebook video last month that cancer cells were found in his bladder area. He expanded on his diagnosis in an interview this week with Entertainment Tonight.
“I was misdiagnosed at first, and it led to another one, and they said, ‘You have cancer,'” he said. “Not good. The word ‘cancer’ is scary, but I try to be a good role model.”
A daytime television fixture as Victor Newman on the iconic soap opera for more than four decades, Braeden is now in the middle of six weeks of immunotherapy treatments. He is continuing to work on “The Young and the Restless” during his treatment.
“At the moment, I feel pretty good,” he said.
He is hoping that by sharing his story, he can remove some of the stigma and embarrassment about prostate and bladder issues.
“I just want men to know not to be scared of that,” he said. “I want them to know to have your prostate examined, have your bladder examined, have your colon examined. Just acquaint yourself with it and be open about it, so that way you take the fear out of people.
“A lot of men, me included, would not want to know about it. That’s nonsense.”
In his Facebook video, Braeden detailed how he had frequent urination problems, either having to go every half hour or not be able to urinate at all. Doctors inserted a catheter and then inspected his bladder, which led to the cancer diagnosis.
He said he had surgery to remove the cancer, but a follow-up biopsy revealed he still had some cancer cells that needed to be treated.
“I will lick this,” he said in the video. “This pass at it ain’t gonna get me. I’m gonna get it, alright? And I’ll be in top form again soon.”
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