Sharon Osbourne’s cancer is more serious than was initially diagnosed.
After having a foot of her colon removed in surgery July 3, the wife of heavy metal pioneer Ozzy Osbourne and matriarch of “The Osbournes” was expected to make a full recovery. However, she told People magazine in an issue published Thursday the cancer had spread.
Doctors, who believed they had removed the cancer, later found cancerous cells in one of two lymph nodes removed during the procedure, indicating it had moved beyond her colon.
Sharon will undergo three months of chemotherapy beginning July 29 and MTV will document it for the second season of “The Osbournes.”
“It was not the best news,” she told People. “You think nothing will ever happen to you. You’re invincible. Then after you get over the shock and panic you realize how lucky you are to be alive. That’s where I am right now. I simply have to take care of this thing.”
As much as Sharon was upset by her diagnosis, her husband was even more troubled. “He was hysterical, just terrified,” she said. “The doctor had to come over and sedate him.”
Ozzy, the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness, even told the magazine he had been doing a lot of praying. “I’ve always had a plan that I’d get sick before she did, that I’d die before she did, but my plan didn’t work out,” he added. “Life has a way of kicking you in the nuts.”
Sharon, who will turn 50 on October 9, said her prognosis was still “very, very good” and managed to joke about the cancer. “Why’d they have to find it in my bum of all places?” she asked People, adding about her treatment center, “We need to get a different vibe going. I think I’ll bring some music, introduce myself, maybe we can sing some songs and cheer the place up.”
She also convinced her hesitant husband to carry on with Ozzfest after the first two dates were postponed. Ozzy’s wife of 20 years was diagnosed with colorectal cancer on July 1 after Ozzy pleaded she see a doctor for a long overdue checkup.
The couple’s son, Jack, also made headlines Thursday. Reuters reported the 16-year-old was treated by a lifeguard for minor injuries after hurting his arm while climbing an empty building in Malibu to dive into the ocean. A spokesperson for the Osbourne family was not available for comment.
“The Osbournes,” which chronicles the Beverly Hills residents’ zany lives, debuted last spring and quickly became the highest-rated series in MTV history.
