Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell, who recently revealed he is in full remission after a 12-year battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, has now shared the harrowing and frustrating story of his initial diagnosis. In a powerful new interview, he recounted a process that took over a year and required him to personally demand the test that ultimately discovered his cancer, and he opened up about the defiant mindset that has guided him through his long fight, declaring: “I’m not afraid to die.”
Speaking on the Fueled With Chris Cyr podcast, Campbell told the cautionary tale of how his symptoms were repeatedly dismissed by doctors for months. He explained that he knew for about a year and a half that “something was very wrong” as he suffered from a persistent cough and recurring illness while on tour.
“I went to see my GP [general practitioner] in L.A. when I finally got home from tour, and he said, ‘Well, sometimes things linger.’ And I said, ‘I got this cough that is intermittent, but when it’s there it’s really persistent and prevalent.’ And he said, ‘Well, go see this respiratory doctor.’ So long story short, I went to see this respiratory doctor for about eight months. I’d go once a month and he’d keep giving me a different inhaler and nasal spray… And then finally, after all those months, I went into his office and I said, ‘Look, I don’t want another inhaler. I don’t want another nasal spray.’ I said, ‘I want a chest x-ray.’ I said, ‘If I’ve gotta pay you cash… Just let’s do it.’ And he said, ‘Okay. Okay, we’ll do an x-ray.’… He called me that evening and said, ‘I’m gonna have an oncologist call you tomorrow.’ He said, ‘There’s something going on.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, no s**t. I told you a year ago’,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
That experience, and his entire 12-year battle, has been defined by a defiant and fearless attitude.
“My attitude, other than the first week or so… has always been, ‘F**k you, cancer.’ I’m just gonna deal with it,” Campbell stated. “And mentally, I’m not afraid to die. I don’t wanna die ’cause I’ve got kids and family… but I’ve never been afraid of it. And I just keep pushing at it and keep pushing back. And most importantly, I just keep living my life.”
This past June, Campbell announced the incredible news that a successful donor stem cell transplant had finally put him “a hundred percent clean, completely in remission for the first time in 12 or 13 years.” He now views his life through the lens of a survivor, even joking that the diagnosis had one positive side effect.
“I went and bought a very expensive Porsche,” he said. “And I [thought], ‘I could be dead next week.’ Well, actually, there is a saying in Ireland: ‘You’re a long time dead.’ So I sort of take it to heart.”
