Eric Braeden. Hahn Lionel/ABACA/Shutterstock
The Young and the Restless star Eric Braeden shared that he was cancer-free four months after he was diagnosed with bladder cancer.
“The reason I want to talk to you tonight is I want to tell you that I’m grateful [for] all of your good thoughts and your prayers,” Braeden, 82, said in a Facebook Live video on Sunday, August 13. “It [has] meant a great deal to me, and I can tell you it obviously has helped because I had my last cystoscopy two days ago — that’s when they thread a camera into your bladder — and I’m cancer-free. They couldn’t find a damn thing. Isn’t that nice?”
Despite being cancer-free for the past “three days,” Braeden acknowledged his treatment was not over quite yet. The actor noted that due to the “high-grade cancer cells” found in his bladder, he has to undergo three prophylactic infusions containing “some stuff that apparently kills the cancer.” Braeden also recently underwent an MRI to see if the cancer spread and is currently waiting for the results.
“And then I should be free for a while,” Braden noted. “Every so often, every few months, I’ll have another cystoscopy. All to find the damn thing early and to fight it. To hell with it.”
Braeden rose to fame in the ‘80s for his role as Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless, whom he still plays to this day. In April, Braeden went public with his cancer diagnosis after he experienced some problems with his prostate while recovering from a knee replacement surgery.
After seeing a urologist, the doctor recommended he have a UroLift — which is a surgery that relieves pressure on the urethra. However, Braeden’s condition became “so bad” that he was unable to urinate, so he sought out a second opinion.
In the second consultation, Braeden was diagnosed with cancer where he learned he had both low-grade and high-grade cancer cells. While going through his battle with cancer, Braeden continued to work on the soap opera full-time.
One month after sharing his diagnosis, Braeden explained to Entertainment Tonight that he wanted to inform the public so they wouldn’t be afraid to get checked out.
“I just want men to know not to be scared of that. I want them to know to have your prostate examined, have your bladder examined, have your colon examined,” Braeden explained in May. “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.”
