Michael Bolton's daughters have revealed a bizarre incident at a bowling alley that turned out to be the first sign of the singer's deadly brain cancer. The 72-year-old music legend, known for his soulful voice and hit songs, shocked his family during what should have been an ordinary night out with a 'super weird' act – he bowled out of turn.
In an emotional interview with People magazine, Taryn Bolton recalled the alarming event: "That was when we were like, 'Something's wrong with his brain. Everything that happened was weird for him but not super alarming. When you look back at everything together ... We missed so many things."
Bolton's odd behaviour while enjoying an evening with his loved ones was actually indicating a grim reality; he was suffering from glioblastoma, a rare and particularly aggressive form of brain cancer. The symptoms of this devastating illness can manifest in various ways such as persistent headaches, seizures, queasiness, excessive tiredness, cognitive or mood alterations, gradual loss of muscle function or sensation, and issues with sight or speech, depending on where within the brain the tumour is located and how quickly it grows.
On the same evening that he incorrectly took his bowling turn, another startling occurrence caught the family off guard. Taryn shared another worrisome detail: "He fell out of his chair to the left, which is very unusual. He's super athletic, and he doesn't drink. So he fell, and we were like, 'What just happened?'".
Over the same weekend, Bolton experienced a "bad" headache and by Monday, found himself in hospital undergoing an MRI that unveiled a brain tumour. Astonishingly, after surgery, the entire tumour was extracted, and doctors later confirmed it to be glioblastoma, a condition impacting some 15,000 Americans annually according to the National Brain Tumour Society.
After enduring multiple surgeries along with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the singer's latest scan signalled the all-clear. Opening up about his ordeal, he stated: "Succumbing to the challenge is not an option. You're really quickly drawn into a duel. I guess that's the way you find out what you're made of."
In a deeply personal chat with People magazine, Bolton added: "Whenever you find yourself in any kind of challenging position, just to know that you're not alone going through it is a big deal."
Throughout his ordeal, Michael deliberately wasn't informed of his prognosis. Reflecting on his journey, he remarked: "It reminds them that they're not alone," now cherishing a renewed gratitude for life post-clearance.
In a remarkable revelation, his daughter Holly shared that mere minutes after waking from surgery, Michael began singing.
Bolton’s neuro-oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Ingo Mellinghoff, points out that brain tumours can manifest as personality shifts, intense headaches, seizures, coordination problems and even muscle weakness or paralysis.
"If all of a sudden you're a completely different person, and people are like, 'He never gets out of bed anymore. What's going on? He doesn't want to do anything'...," Mellinghoff says. "If somebody can't move one part of their body, that's never normal. Or changes in sensation. When they say, 'I can't feel anything anymore on my right side.'".
Mellinghoff adds that changes in speech patterns can also be a red flag. "Speech is pretty sensitive. We all have our speech patterns, and if all of a sudden your friend says, 'It sounds so strange, and it doesn't make sense,' that is definitely something," he says.
"It's really hard to put out the message of, 'If you have a headache, think about brain cancer,' because that's so rare," he says. "Many of these symptoms are very nonspecific, so we have to be careful not scaring everyone."
The Brains Trust charity has explained early signs of the killer disease. It said: "Because there are so many different types of brain tumour, there are a number of brain tumour symptoms and signs, depending on the nature of the brain tumour and where it is. These may be very severe, or may not be apparent at all. So, it is a very broad spectrum with which we are dealing. Please remember this if you haven't been diagnosed with a brain tumour. It is a rare condition and having a headache for more than a week does not mean that you necessarily have a brain tumour."
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