Cancer ‘gone’
Cancel the flowers. Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins said yesterday his doctors have given him an all-clear on the cancer front.
Hawkins was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last summer and operated on, apparently unsuccessfully.
The prognosis was considered poor enough that the noticeably frail Hawk was given lifetime tributes at a series of gala shows, attended by the likes of Bill Clinton, Kris Kristofferson, David Foster and Arkansas “chicken king” Don Tyson. But The Toronto Sun has learned that Hawkins received results this week of a recent CT scan and MRI, which indicated the growth was gone.
The Hawkins family plans to release the news today.
“It was very serious, it disappeared, it’s gone, and nobody knows how to explain it,” said Hawkins, who chose not to undergo chemotherapy in the wake of the surgery. “I saw the growth myself on the X-ray. But it’s true, I’m clean as an angel’s drawers. The doctors can’t believe it. They’re doing a lot of thinking … SARS doesn’t stand a chance in my body, baby.”
Though he didn’t opt for conventional medicine, Hawkins said he tried every alternative medicine that was sent his way, “plus I doubled up on the whisky and dope.
“I’d have to go into hours to tell you about all the Indian recipes and stuff that was sent to me. What’s that medicine, holistic?
“And then was a healer from Vancouver, a young kid, he’s unbelievable. Robbie Robertson had these Indian healers, these Indian medicine men fix me up a batch of s—. (Blues-rocker) Lonnie Mack did the same thing.
“I don’t know which one cured me, but it might have been a combination of all of it. Personally, I think it was the whisky and the pot.”
Hawkins’ surgeon, Bryce Taylor, was unavailable for comment yesterday.
The Hawk said he’s begun rehearsing again, and his immediate plans are to throw together an Ontario tour in the summer.
“I’m not gettin’ out too much yet. I’ve been hanging around the house a lot and I gotta build up some strength. I had three major operations in 90 days last year.
“But I’ve been feeling pretty good lately. I had a feeling I was getting better. I played some dates here and there, and I’m getting ready to tour.
“Baby, I’m chasing the girls already. I just don’t wanna catch ’em for a week or two.”
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