Gerry Turner, star of ABC’s “Golden Bachelor,” has been diagnosed with Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia, a rare blood cancer. Doctors discovered the 72-year-old had cancer in March, just weeks before his divorce with fellow show member Theresa Nist.
“There’s a topic that I haven’t wanted to talk about until now,” Turner told People’s Esther Kang. “I think it’s time, also because it probably will clear up a lot of mystery around what happened back in February, March and April.”
“As Theresa and I were trying very hard to find our lifestyle and where we were going to live and how we were going to make our life work, I was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer,” he added.
Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia is a slow-growing cancer that affects the lymphatic system, an important part of the body’s immune system. While patients can remain symptom free for years, the cancer eventually causes fatigue, fever, weight loss, confusion, easy bruising and more.
“Unfortunately, there’s no cure for it. So that weighs heavily in every decision I make,” Turner said. “It was like 10 tons of concrete were just dropped on me. And I was a bit in denial for a while, I didn’t want to admit to it.”
According to the American Cancer Society, up to 1,500 people are diagnosed in the United States each year. That’s an incidence rate of about three cases for every million people in the country. Turner, however, is not letting the diagnosis slow him down.
“I’m going to pack as much fun as I possibly can into my life and enjoy every moment. And when I’m gone, I’m gone, but I’m not going to have regrets,” the “The Golden Bachelor” star said.
Moving forward, Turner plans to spend more time with his family, but reflected on his short relationship with Nist and how his diagnosis influenced their time together.
“That glamour and starstruck, whirlwind time was really a cherished memory,” he said. “It was wonderful, and I certainly wish it would’ve had a different ending, that we would’ve found our way, that we would’ve found solutions to a problem. And most of all, that I would not have had a diagnosis that so strongly influenced my decisions and the direction I went.”
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