Published on: 16/04/18
Singer of Love me again John Newman has spoken to The Sun about his brain tumour and the fact he suffers from anxiety after doctors decided not to operate on him immediately.
John, age 27, is back in the spotlight with a new single, Fire in me, but at some point he will be taking time out again.
In 2012 John was diagnosed with a non-cancerous brain tumour when he began to lose his sight. He went to an optician who sent him to a neurosurgeon.
The benign growth was removed but the tumour returned in 2016 (see The Metro’s article).
After a break John is back to focusing on music and recently sang on ITV's programme The Real Full Monty, which raised awareness of cancer.
Speaking to The Sun about his new music John said: “I’ve got this thing in my head. It’s part of my body and I have other things I need to concentrate on.”
John talked about his experience after receiving the diagnosis of a brain tumour for the second time in four years.
He said: “I went in and the incredible woman that I speak to said, ‘We’ve got good news and bad news, in a way. The good news is we don’t have to do an operation now’.
“I was like, ‘Right, what’s the bad news?’ She said, ‘Well it hasn’t grown at all but it’s just sat there and now you’ve got to live with the anxiety of knowing it’s still there’.
“One hundred per cent, 110 per cent, it will be operated on. It’s got to be operated on. It’s got to come out.
“I’ve got to go through radiotherapy or chemotherapy, just, I don’t know when.
“It’s just sat there and it’s really annoying. I was like, ‘Can you not just get it out anyway?’ But there’s people who need (an op) a lot more than I do, so they should get the time. I’ll get the time when I need it.
“I struggle from a lot of anxiety. The rate of growth currently, they don’t believe there is cancerous cells in it.”
Charities including The Brain Tumour Charity are appreciative of John’s work in raising awareness.
In GQ magazine in 2016 John said: “I feel like awareness needs to grow.”
He continued: “Discovering important health news too late happens too much.”
