Living in Gratitude
- Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson just opened up about battling tongue cancer, his recent breakthrough case of COVID, and how thankful he is to have gotten the vaccine.
- The English rocker, who just turned 63, is grateful for the good fortune in his life, and said that his voice became stronger than ever after healing from his surgery.
- Dr. Zuri Murrell from Cedars-Sinai told SurvivorNet that the patients who do the best battling cancer are those who express gratitude and positivity.
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Maiden will be releasing their 17th studio album, Senjutsu, on September 3, which Dickinson and the band have been heavily promoting on their Instagram. Strangely enough, Dickinson’s voice has been better than ever, and he’s convinced his voice is even better since his tongue cancer battle, though he “obviously would have preferred" to skip getting diagnosed with the disease.
"I had a three-and-a-half-centimeter [tumor] basically a golf ball living down at the base of my tongue, right at the base," he explained. "So, that was sitting there for I really don’t know how long by the time it got big enough to notice. But I did a whole album [2015's The Book of Souls] with that sort of sitting there. And when it went away, I guess there’s a lot more space for the sound to come out! Not to put too fine a point on it, but there’s no more obstruction in the way, you know? So yeah, with the high notes I was like, 'Wow! Whoosh!' There’s a lot more horsepower in some of the high notes, which is interesting.”
In early May 2015, he admitted that he sounded terrible during his initial recovery, but luckily, after a few months of rest, his voice came back. After belting out a tune, he went, “'Oh, ooh, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Oh my God.' And then I just relaxed, because I’m not in a hurry now; I know it’s all there. It’s come back."
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Living With Gratitude
Even if the singer had lost his voice because of cancer, he insisted that he would not be too down about it.
Related: ‘Stay Positive, It Matters,’ Says a Leading Expert on Surviving Cancer
"There’s always a way you can turn things into being a positive," he said. "I mean, even if the worst happened and it completely messed with my voice to the extent that it changed completely, you have to take that and go, 'Well, what am I? Am I just some squeaky toy that makes noises, and if I don’t make those noises, then I can’t be an artist anymore?' Just take a look at some great singers who have very unconventional voices.”
Now he’s also using his voice to spread awareness about cancer and why it’s important for people to get vaccinated … and also showing gratitude for the good fortune in his life.
The patients who tend to do well with cancer are the ones who express gratitude, according to colorectal surgeon Dr. Zuri Murrell from Cedars-Sinai to SurvivorNet.
“I used to hate it when people would get back from these trips and they would say they’re poor, but they’re happy,” he admitted. “That is wrong. Nobody’s happy hungry. But what they are is, even if they’re poor, they live life with gratitude. And the patients who do well with cancer, they live life with that kind of gratitude, but in terms of everything.”
They’re not grateful for cancer, but they’re “grateful for an opportunity to know that life is finite” and appreciate what or whom they have in front of them.
“Those are the patients that tend to do well with processing and also living a long, long life despite a [cancer] diagnosis,” Dr. Murrell said.
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