Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine joined a conversation with Full Metal Jackie and talked about the process when he had throat cancer. The guitarist mentioned that this was an experience that made him think about life in general.
Dave Mustaine announced that he had throat cancer in 2019. He received many radiation and chemo treatments to overcome the disease. Lots of fans supported him beside the band members in this challenging process. After one year, Mustaine beat cancer and started to work with Megadeth members for the upcoming album, which will come out this summer.
In a previous interview, the rocker stated that he did his best to get rid of cancer in this process. Mustaine said he worked hard to overcome it to return to creating music again. He added that he was cancer-free and feeling healthier.
Recently, Dave Mustaine mentioned in a conversation that he thought about life generally rather than being on stage while and after overcoming cancer. As he explained, he was grateful for the people who supported him in this process because there were moments when he turned into a tough person.
After stressing that having cancer was an eye-opening experience, Mustaine said he realized from the TV commercials that people have started to become aware of throat cancer as he has done. The guitarist also reminded people to see a doctor regularly and do their health checks if they respect themselves and those around them.
During the interview, Dave Mustaine explained:
“I don’t even think about it anymore. But it was something that made me take into consideration life in general, not so much what I do when I get on stage but just how much I really appreciate the people around me. How much do I have a capacity in my heart to tolerate people that get on my nerves? Am I going to send somebody away mad at each other and never see them again?
It’s been a real eye-opening experience. And I just noticed on TV, too, that they’re starting to do commercials about this type of cancer. And I’d never seen this before in my life, and now I’m seeing it on TV. And I’m thinking, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ They used never to have these kinds of massive sicknesses like this where you have television commercials about throat cancer.
It used to be just cancer, cancer, cancer, not into specifics like this. Now you know something really weird’s happening. And it happens to a lot of people, I’m told. So I would just encourage people to be healthy, kick-a**, and take down names. And if you’re an adult male and you have any respect for yourself and the people around you that love you, go get yourself checked up.”
Although having throat cancer was a difficult period for Dave Mustaine, he has considered this a life-changing experience. He gained awareness of this type of cancer since not many people had informed him about different types of cancer before. The rocker also appreciated the people who were supportive of him since he must have realized how much his friends helped him during those challenging times.
