Tony Iommi may have to live with cancer for the rest of his life.
The Black Sabbath guitarist was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma three years ago and has undergone a number of procedures, including chemotherapy and an antibody treatment that coats the cancer cells to stop them from multiplying.
Unfortunately, all of that took a toll on Iommi just as the original Black Sabbath had reformed to record their album 13 and do a world tour. In a new article for the Mirror in the U.K., Iommi revealed a number of previously unknown side effects of his treatment in relation to his touring.
Even in the studio, he said he had to slow down and rest at times and the cocaine from the past was replaced by tea and health drinks. Their tour behind 13 had to be structured so that Iommi could fly home every six weeks for another antibody treatment and the recovery period after. Even worse, the extra traveling was also detrimental to his health as the flying affected his blood cells.
Today, Iommi is not totally sure where he stands. “Because I had two different operations at the same time, one on my prostate and one on my lymph nodes, I had too many scans last year and too much radiation, so I can’t have any more scans yet. Every day I feel around for lumps and bumps. Every time I get a pain in my stomach I think, ‘Oh God, it’s cancer’. It’s horrible. I even dream about it.”
Even worse, Iommi admits that his doctors have not given him the best prognosis. “The surgeon told me he doesn’t expect the cancer to go away. There’s a 30 per cent chance that it could, but more than likely it will come back and it could be any time. I look at life differently now. I could be here another 10 years or just one year – I don’t know.”
Still, he intends on forging on “Sometimes I wonder if I should try to live a more peaceful life. Then I think, ‘I don’t want to let the illness take over’. After all, I enjoy where I’m at now.”
Tony Iommi, the Noise11 interview
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