After a surprise lung cancer diagnosis, Gerald McRaney credits early detection, expert care, and strong support for his recovery.
Can you share a little bit about your initial diagnosis, and were there any symptoms that led you to seek medical attention?
I had been on a hunting trip in New Zealand and had twisted a knee, and when I got home, I just kept limping around the house with my wife nagging me to go see a doctor. Of course, being a guy, I just kept saying, “I’ll walk it off. It’ll be fine.” Finally, just to shut her up, I went to see somebody about my knee, and they determined that, yes, I had a problem with it, but they needed to do surgery. I had a torn meniscus, and I had to have a pre-op physical. By absolute chance, during that physical, one of the radiologists spotted a tiny, tiny spot on my right lung, and we looked into that further, and got the opinion of some doctors in Los Angeles that it was probably lung cancer. I had been on a tour years ago with President and Mrs. Bush — the senior President Bush — and they had their birthday parties together to help raise funds for the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. I immediately went there, and the diagnosis was confirmed. While I was there, they did the surgery and removed the middle lobe of my right lung. I have now been cancer-free for 20, almost 21 years.
What would you say the biggest challenges were that you faced during treatment?
Well, I did discover something about myself: I wasn’t afraid of the idea of dying. I was going to miss people a lot, especially my wife, and then when I found out that I might be okay — because the odds are stacked against you with lung cancer, even at an early stage — emotionally, I was pretty okay after that. Physically, after I was released from the hospital, I went back to the little town where I was born and where my brother still lived, and I stayed with him for about a week. He helped me with my recovery by taking me out to the local park and walking me just a little bit further every day. They had a track that was a quarter mile, and we started out just walking around once, and he had me up to a mile and a half by the time I flew back to Los Angeles. I think it was maybe 12 days after my surgery, I was supposed to reshoot a television pilot, and I did.
In this small town, there were neighbors that I didn’t even know anymore who would bring by food and just come to call, and the Presbyterian minister even came by. Neither my brother nor I is Presbyterian, but he felt obligated to come by and see how I was doing spiritually. So he did, and that was very helpful.
Was there anything that surprised you about the cancer journey overall, or something that you wish more people knew?
The main thing is to reiterate to people something that they probably already know: You should, especially after the age of 40, get that full physical once a year, because mine was discovered totally by accident. I was only getting a physical for surgery. I had skipped having my physical every year, and if I had had my physical every year, this might have been caught even sooner. My advice would be, after the age of 40, go do your physical, and you know, be religious about it, because it can save your life.
I was dumber than a red brick, but luckily, I have a nagging wife. Thanks to her nagging me and loving me, I lived another 21 years and counting. As a matter of fact, a couple of weeks ago, we did a renewal of our vows. We’ve been married 36 years.
How has surviving lung cancer changed your outlook on life or your priorities on health?
Well, things that at one time seemed supremely important to me aren’t anymore, and simple things that I always took for granted are amazing now. Sunlight, sunsets, thunderstorms — I really have an appreciation for being here to witness them now, and I take pleasure in them more than I used to. You just become aware of the things that you used to take for granted, and when you realize that they could be gone in an instant, they make you stop and take stock of what’s important in your life.
What role did your support system play in your recovery? What advice would you give to caretakers supporting a loved one through this journey?
Their participation in my recovery was absolute. They were totally responsible for it, and my wife, of course, was responsible for the diagnosis to begin with. If I had waited another six months or a year, I would probably be dead now. When I had to go back to work and got home every evening, when I came in, I would be totally exhausted. My wife was there for me to just, you know, rub my back. That’s where my scar was, and for some reason, her just gently rubbing that scar would make me feel a lot better.
Why is it important for you to use your platform to raise awareness about lung cancer today?
I’ve lost other people who had lung cancer and weren’t as lucky as I was. I don’t want people to have to go through that. I don’t want their families to have to go through that. That’s primarily the reason I use what platform I have anymore to hopefully make people aware of what they can do to prevent a lot of this stuff. There are all manner of screenings. There’s a blood test that you can do for prostate cancer, and there’s all manner of new diagnostic devices that don’t have to be terribly intrusive the way they used to be. They can find cancer a lot earlier than they used to be able to find cancer. The research is ongoing, and places like MD Anderson and Sloan Kettering, they’re working tirelessly every day to find cures for these various forms of cancer, and they have done so in my time. From the time I had my surgery until now, they’ve come up with so many other ways of treating various forms of cancer. The improvements in treatment are being made on a daily basis now, so take advantage of that. Find it early, get in there, get stuff taken care of, and it doesn’t have to impact your life the way it did 20 or 40 years ago.
