Watch: Snooki Shares She’s Cancer-Free After Cervical Cancer Diagnosis
Dolph Lundgren was tired of fighting during one low point in his cancer journey.
The Rocky IV star looked back on his decade-long battle with the disease, sharing that his struggles with depression amid treatment led him to contemplate assisted suicide. In fact, he even detailed a conversation with his brother JohanĀ LundgrenĀ about assisting him through the process.
āWhen I was deep into the cancer treatments and thinking about the possibility of killing myself, my brother, Johan, was going to help me, because I didnāt know what kind of condition I might be in once I made that decision,ā Lundgren wrote in his new memoir Fights Worth Fighting: Finding Strength in Struggle, per Entertainment Weekly. “I could be in really bad shape by then and not capable of completing the suicide on my own.”
“There are countries in Europe, like Switzerland, that permit legal suicide for people who are terminally ill, but I still might have needed someone there to help me,” he continued. “At this point, I was depressed and had almost given up all hope.”
However, the 68-year-old’s mindset turned around when he met Dr. Alexandra Drakaki, who reviewed his medical records and came to the conclusion that Lundgren had been “misdiagnosed” when he was told in 2020 that he only had a few years.
And after Drakaki put Lundgrenāwho was initially diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2015, before being told five years later that the tumors had spreadāon a treatment plan for lung cancer instead, the Creed II actor said he “began feeling better.”
“If I’d gone on the other treatment, I had about three or four months left,” he told In Depth With Graham Bensinger in 2023. “I couldn’t believe that that it would be that radical of a difference that within three months, things were shrinking by 20, 30 percent.”
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
Lundgren announced he was cancer-free in 2024.
“Itās been a rough ride and really taught me how to live in the moment and enjoy every moment of life,ā the action star shared in an Instagram video at the time. āItās the only way to go.”
Through his cancer journey, Lundgren also gained a new appreciation of himself.
āIām kinder to myself than I was before, so I think that also feels good,” he told EW earlier this year. “I donāt push myself as much, and that makes me appreciate life more. Iām doing it for myself and for that young kid who came over here from Sweden and didnāt know what was gonna happen to him.ā
For more celebrity cancer survivors sharing their stories, read on.
Paul Archuleta/Getty Images
Taylor Hill/WireImage
Tommy Garcia/Bravo
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images
Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
J.H. SAUNDERS/Landov
Adam Olszweski/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank
Gordon Ramsay / Instagram
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Michael Buckner/Getty Images
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney
Brad Barket/Getty Images for Happy Hearts Fund
Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Doug Meszler / Splash News
Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images
Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Jemal Countess/Getty Images for the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival
Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Robert Laberge/Getty Images
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images for LA Times
If you or someone you know needs help, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
Ā ā
