# Ronnie Wood refuses chemotherapy to avoid hair loss **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 8, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054 "2017-08-08T02:28:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/1 "2017-08-08T02:28:22Z")
Link: [Ronnie Wood cancer](http://www.newsmax.com/World/Europe/EU-Britain-Ronnie-Wood/2017/08/06/id/806068/) Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Following surgery, he refused chemotherapy, allegedly because he didn’t want to lose his hair. > [@](#): > > Wood told The Mail on Sunday that he had decided not to have chemotherapy if results turned out to be bad. He says he decided, “I wasn’t going to lose my hair. This hair wasn’t going anywhere.” Surely he was joking? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/2 "2017-08-08T03:29:17Z")
That stuff on his head is his real hair?? :dubious: If he starts chemo, that’s the beginning of the end. He’s led a long full life and maybe he’s ready to meet his demise on his own terms, working till he can’t any more. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/3 "2017-08-08T03:38:54Z")
Chemo just all around sucks, in many different ways. He could have just been using the hair thing as shorthand for all of the nasty side effects of chemotherapy, and deciding that it wasn’t worth it. If cancer didn’t itself suck so badly, nobody would ever voluntarily go through the Hell that is chemo. Or maybe he just really does value his hair specifically that much. It’s still his call. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/4 "2017-08-08T04:00:37Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > That stuff on his head is his real hair?? :dubious: > > If he starts chemo, that’s the beginning of the end. He’s led a long full life and maybe he’s ready to meet his demise on his own terms, working till he can’t any more. I finished 24 weeks of chemo every other week a little over a month ago. I’m now cancer free with a 2 out of three chance it will come back some day. But as the oncologist says, that’s also a three out of five chance it won’t. Cancer treatment, including has come a long way, even in the last 10-15 years. Certainly not necessarily the beginning of the end. Doctors are even OK now with sometimes declaring the cancer cured, not just in remission. It wasn’t fun, and I"m glad it’s over, but it ended up being better than the alternative for me. Obviously, if all it was expected to do was give me a few extra months that would have been different. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/5 "2017-08-08T04:04:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Chemo just all around sucks, in many different ways. He could have just been using the hair thing as shorthand for all of the nasty side effects of chemotherapy, and deciding that it wasn’t worth it. If cancer didn’t itself suck so badly, nobody would ever voluntarily go through the Hell that is chemo. > > Or maybe he just really does value his hair specifically that much. It’s still his call. All of this is true. And I’d like to know who that 5% or 10% of people who are still alive 5 years after a lung cancer diagnosis are, because I’ve never seen or heard of anyone who for whom any kind of treatment was effective. ☹ He probably wants to have the highest quality of life that he can, for the time he has left. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/6 "2017-08-08T04:06:19Z")
> [@ioioio](#): > > Link: [Ronnie Wood cancer](http://www.newsmax.com/World/Europe/EU-Britain-Ronnie-Wood/2017/08/06/id/806068/) > > Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Following surgery, he refused chemotherapy, allegedly because he didn’t want to lose his hair. > > Surely he was joking? That article is behind a paywall. Here’s a link to a free story: > **[Ronnie Wood Speaks About His Lung Cancer Battle: 'It Could Have Been Curtains'](https://ultimateclassicrock.com/ronnie-wood-lung-cancer/)** > > Ron Wood described the week when everything hung in the balance after learning that he had lung cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/7 "2017-08-08T04:11:07Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > All of this is true. And I’d like to know who that 5% or 10% of people who are still alive 5 years after a lung cancer diagnosis are, because I’ve never seen or heard of anyone who for whom any kind of treatment was effective. John Wayne lived 15 years past his 1964 diagnosis of lung cancer, dying in 1979 of stomach cancer. Treatment of the lung cancer included the removal of an entire lung and some ribs. Now you’ve heard of someone. But yeah, it’s not common to survive long past diagnosis. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/8 "2017-08-08T04:40:40Z")
Why bother? He’ll die anyway. I support his decision. 100% ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/9 "2017-08-08T04:46:18Z")
Too bad Keith Richards won’t give away his secret for eternal life. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/10 "2017-08-08T05:09:02Z")
The subject of Carly Simon’s “You’re so vain” if finally revealed. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/11 "2017-08-08T05:16:22Z")
The “B” side was for Keith. “You’re so vein”. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/12 "2017-08-08T05:41:18Z")
If you’re going to die anyway, why die bald? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/13 "2017-08-08T05:52:07Z")
I will note that the article said he’d refuse chemo “if results [of the surgery] turned out to be bad”. That’s pretty reasonable since the usefulness of the chemo will very much depend on the success of the surgery. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/14 "2017-08-08T06:41:16Z")
Here’s a very recent CNN story: [CNN Ronnie Woods cancer](http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/07/entertainment/ronnie-wood-rolling-stones-cancer/index.html) He was diagnosed in May and apparently has already had the surgery. He claims to be fine and ready to go on tour. > [@](#): > > Wood told the Daily Mail’s Event magazine in an interview that was published over the weekend that things were touch and go for a bit after doctors discovered a cancerous **legion** during a checkup in May. Bolding mine. Yikes!!! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/15 "2017-08-08T12:51:31Z")
Well, hell, my own dad refused chemo for his lung cancer. But then, after discussing it with doctors who didn’t think chemo had any chance of putting it into remission, and considering his age and general health, it was determined chemo would probably harm more than it helped. You don’t _have to_ have chemo. It’s a choice. Wood is in his 70’s, isn’t he? And we don’t know the details of his situation. Whether or not to have chemo is between him and his medical team. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/16 "2017-08-08T13:20:39Z")
His life, his choice. His hair was always part of his swinging London image. Rod Stewart and Ronnie, I think in each of their autobio’s\* talk about how “Face” was a nickname for a stylish guy with big, good hair. “Hello, Face” was their greeting to each other and what lead to the band names the Small Faces and Faces. Ronnie is a brilliant guitarist and a great artist, and by all accounts a good mate and bandmate. I wish him strength with this challenge. \*of their autobiographies, Keith’s is a brilliant must-read, Rod Stewart’s is a fun catalogue of stories and silliness, well told. And Woody’s? Well, I don’t quite see how he got his memoir out of the same experiences as Keith and Rod. Just flat and kinda boring. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/17 "2017-08-08T13:28:57Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > All of this is true. And I’d like to know who that 5% or 10% of people who are still alive 5 years after a lung cancer diagnosis are, because I’ve never seen or heard of anyone who for whom any kind of treatment was effective. : [Marie Killilea](http://mentalfloss.com/article/19740/killilea-family-where-are-they-now) author of Karen and With Love from Karen, which mention her solace with smoking. She regretted it when she survived two bouts of lung cancer, and died of respiratory failure. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/18 "2017-08-08T13:29:50Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I finished 24 weeks of chemo every other week a little over a month ago. **I’m now cancer free with a 2 out of three chance it will come back some day. But as the oncologist says, that’s also a three out of five chance it won’t.** Cancer treatment, including has come a long way, even in the last 10-15 years. Certainly not necessarily the beginning of the end. Doctors are even OK now with sometimes declaring the cancer cured, not just in remission. > > It wasn’t fun, and I"m glad it’s over, but it ended up being better than the alternative for me. Obviously, if all it was expected to do was give me a few extra months that would have been different. (Bolding mine.) Can you explain the math please? Or was that supposed to be “2 out of five” rather than “2 out of three”? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/19 "2017-08-08T14:40:02Z")
Hair wasn’t an issue for me, but a lot of women are more upset about the hair loss than about the cancer (cite: [Breastcancer.org](http://Breastcancer.org) discussion boards). Some men have a lot of identity similarly associated with their hair. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054/20 "2017-08-08T15:15:28Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I I’m now cancer free with a 2 out of three chance it will come back some day. But as the oncologist says, that’s also a three out of five chance it won’t. > [@Shoeless](#): > > (Bolding mine.) Can you explain the math please? Or was that supposed to be “2 out of five” rather than “2 out of three”? Me too. I thought: “Is this some Bayesian statistics counterintuitive math the doctor was using?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ronnie-wood-refuses-chemotherapy-to-avoid-hair-loss/793054.md?page=2)