On Friday (May 26), Oscar-nominated actor Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver) revealed on the podcast Mando & Friends that he underwent treatment for throat cancer. The chemotherapy and radiation he received for “months and months” concluded in December 2022.
“I sit here saying now to you … that one thing that I’m very grateful for was that I was in condition to fight this,” Olmos, 76, said. “I was in good condition – and I still am. I swim a mile a day at least, sometimes two miles a day. Every day, seven days a week. And then I row and do weights.”
Olmos explained to podcast host Mando Fresko that five different doctors told him that the treatment for what he described as “a very strong disease,” would “shoot” his vocal cords with radiation and that they couldn’t guarantee that his voice would sound the same.
“We’re shooting your vocal cords, we’re shooting your throat; where you eat, where you swallow, where you talk, breathe, everything goes through here,” Olmos said.
Olmos said he lost 55 pounds during treatment and that doctors wanted to feed him with tubes through his stomach because he couldn’t swallow. “There were times in the months that I was undergoing the treatments that the body gives up,” Olmos said. “They had to get 2,500 calories into my body every day. That was ridiculous, that was so hard.”
The experience, Olmos said, “changed me” and helped him understand “how wonderful this life is,” especially now that he has overcome cancer.
“I’ve been through some experiences that have gotten me close to death,” he said. “But that was close.”
Edward James Olmos can currently be seen on the fifth and final season of Mayans M.C. on FX. And you can watch the full Mando & Friends interview below.