Russell Grant 'in denial' over brain tumour as astrology hinted at diagnosis
The sparkle and warmth the nation has come to love about Britain’s favourite astrologer was gone.
Instead, Russell Grant sat silently, almost paralysed with fear and in a state of denial about the action he needed to take to deal with a growing tumour. Medics, friends and family were encouraging him to go ahead with surgery to get rid of the pituitary gland tumour - a form of brain tumour.
"But I was in denial", says Russell, 72, the star of Strictly and the Mirror’s own astrologer. "I was so scared. Then one day I had a Zoom call with my neurosurgeon Professor Omar Pathmanaban. He was lovely, so reassuring. But what topped it off was he then said, ‘It would be an honour and a privilege to take away your tumour.. when I was a kid my mother and I used to watch you every morning on breakfast telly - it made me late for school!’"
Russell is full of gratitude for all the medics who helped him through his six hour operation last November. He revealed his health battle in a tweet to mark Brain Tumour Awareness Month. Today he talks to the Mirror about the whole ordeal - and how at the end of December 2019 the astrological signs told him serious challenges lay ahead.
Russell Grant admits he was in denial over his brain tumour (David Dyson)
Russell Grant candidly discusses his cancer journey after undergoing an operation to have a pituitary gland tumour removed"It was December 1st 2019 and I was giving a lecture at the Northern Lights astrological society in Blackpool. At the end I said - and I have nearly 200 witnesses for this: ‘The world has some serious aspects - or challenges - coming up over the next three to four years. The power of the slow moving planets, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto means it won’t just be for the world but for each individual. The weak points of ourselves are going to be seriously challenged.’
'I lost my son to suicide and my hubby has months to live - every day counts'
Russell thought for himself it might mean problems with his hip, knee or back which had previously been troublesome. But within one week his beloved mother had been struck down with a stroke. Meanwhile Covid 19 was heading for the UK and unbeknown to him he was developing a tumour on his brain.
After her stroke and with signs of dementia, Russell’s mother moved into a care home near the Middlesex family home. With the nation in lockdown for much of 2020 he was barely able to leave his home in Wales to visit her. "I spoke to her on the phone twice a day and with the dementia I don’t think it even occurred to her I couldn't get to see her. She was a sensational woman, like Ethel Merman.. The hostess with the mostess!"
Russell explains how astrological signs told him serious challenges lay ahead in December 2019On January 13th, 2021 Russell’s mother passed away at 93. But with England and Wales in another lockdown he was then unable to attend the funeral and was forced to say farewell over Zoom to the woman who’d shaped his life. "I went into a great deal of grieving. It was terrible. I felt guilty, I felt I had let her down - even though I’d been looking after her since the 1970s, but I wasn’t there at the end.
"The tear jerker was watching on screen and seeing just five little figures from behind at the service, my brother, my sister in law and Mum’s grandchildren. And then hearing out of my computer speakers the songs we had chosen. Mum wanted Ivor Novello. I’d said, ‘Fling wide the gates of paradise,’ will be very appropriate’. So we had that."
Over the next six months Russell put sudden weight loss down to grief. Then he began suffering extreme burning sensations all over his body and such exhaustion he feared he was having a heart attack. When he finally weighed himself he discovered he had lost an astonishing six stone in six months - dropping from 21stone to 15st.
Finally in January 2022, he went to his local GP in Wales. Blood tests showed he had none of the stress hormone cortisone in his body and he was instantly prescribed hydrocortisone tablets. "I’d been in denial about my health for a while I think, but then I began to panic. They wanted me to go to Manchester for an MRI scan but I just didn’t want to face it."
Russell appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2011 (PA)Doctors feared Russell had a brain tumour - something his father had suffered 20 years earlier. But until he agreed to undergo an MRI scan they were unable to make a formal diagnosis. "In the end I just told myself: ‘I’ve got to do this.’ And so I did. The man who did the MRI bookings was so kind to me. When I told him I was so scared he said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll come in and sit with you. So he sat at the end of the MRI machine with his hand on my ankle. The kindness of people is incredible."
Scans and tests revealed good news - the tumour was benign - and bad news - it was pressing on his optic nerve and without surgery he would lose his sight. But Russell would need a major operation conducted by two surgeons, one a brain specialist and the other an Ear, Nose and Throat expert.
"The whole op was going to be a big deal.. Thinking back to my lecture from 2019 I thought, ‘Well, these planets haven’t ****** let me down, have they?" Nervous about surgery, Russell turned for advice to his old showbiz pal, singer Russell Watson, who underwent the same operation in 2006.
Russell Grant is the nation's favourite astrologist (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Russell with his beloved mum, Jo, who died in the pandemic (@THERussellGrant/Twitter)"We’d worked together on his shows at the Royal Albert Hall. I was teaching people the Samba and then he would come on and sing. We got on like a house on fire. I sent him a text and told him what was happening. He told me: ‘Oh God.. get it out your head NOW. He talked me through so much - he was so kind and caring.
Brain tumour patients report drowsiness as key symptom during ‘final weeks’
"What I wanted to do was run away into the mountains like Heidi and never be seen again but I was challenging myself to face up to what was happening. I started thinking: ‘Look, I’ve got these horrendous stars going on but the weak points in me are being strengthened."
Then one day in the quiet Catholic church in remote Snowdonia where Russell worships he received a sign which gave him the strength he needed. "I went to mass and I was sending a prayer up saying, ‘What shall I do? and it was like I saw my Dads face saying ‘Get it done. Get it out your system’'."
Russell sought advice from his close friend, Russell Watson (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Soon after, Russell’s schoolboy fan from his morning television days - now one of the country’s leading brain surgeons - told him what an honour it would be to do the surgery. But Russell still had one unusual request.. He said: "I said to Professor Pathmanaban, ‘Can I choose the date by astrology when you operate. He replied: ‘Of course - I would have expected nothing less. So I went back and looked at all my astrology charts for a day which would bring optimism and positivity and I came up with November 24th. It was a full moon. All we really needed was a Sagittarian on the medical team and it would be fine."
Days before the operation Russell received a call from one of his closest friends in showbiz, the Hi De Hi actress Ruth Madoc. "We chatted,’ he says, ‘and at the end I said, ‘Do take care Ruth because we have some very heavy aspects around us..’ and of course she died a couple of weeks later. It was terrible to lose Ruth, we had worked together since 1970 when we were in Camille in the West End together."
On the auspicious date of November 24th Russell was in surgery from 2.15 until 8.15 in the evening as the brain and ear, nose & throat surgeon worked together to remove his tumour down through his nose using ‘like a tiny ice cream scoop’. Russell is overwhelmed by the care he has received from the NHS - and incandescent at how workers are being treated by government.
"How dare they not pay them a raise?’ he says. ‘How dare they not pay nurses and doctors and paramedics what they deserve..and then they go around with money being spent on feckless, reckless things." His operation and immediate healing have gone well but there are still regular blood tests and MRI scans to check on progress. And he will need to control his hormones through tablets and gels for the rest of this life. And it has made Russell reassess life.
"It’s reminded me that every day is precious and every day I need to do something that is important - not just for me but for the wider world." Although taking his recuperation gently Russell spends his time working on his daily stars column but also writing about history. He is an adviser for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Historic Counties as well as being involved in non league football.
So are his stars finally starting to look brighter? "Not quite yet,’ he says. ‘Although things are brighter for me this year they are still not quite right.. But they say it will be a sixth month recovery period." Oh yes.. and about that operation being such a success..
"Ah.. I saw my ear, nose and throat surgeon Dr Raj Bhalla recently for a check up,’ he says. ‘He asked me why November 24th had been such an important day. I explained about the positivity and the moon and then he looked at me and said, ‘Oh, I just wondered because it was my birthday.." ‘He’s Sagittarius!!’
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
