The Alarm were set to start their North American tour with Jay Ashton’s Gene Loves Jezebel and Belouis Some on Wednesday in New Orleans, but those dates have been postponed after frontman Mike Peters learned his cancer was back. He writes:
I have no doubt that the following news will come as a complete shock to you in the same way that it has also come as a bolt out of the blue to me and my family.
On Sunday morning April 21st,, I awoke with a large swollen gland on the left side of my neck. I saw Dr. Heartin at the North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre at 10 am on the Monday, and he immediately arranged for an emergency biopsy and CT Scan.
The early results have determined that my Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) has undergone a transformation into a High Grade Lymphoma.
I am awaiting to have both a PET and Heart Scan and also consultations with the team at the Christie Institute in Manchester before confirming the exact specifics of my new treatment regime with the amazing Dr. Heartin and the brilliant team at The North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre.
Once the exact specifics of the biopsy and the treatment plans have been determined, I will write again with a plan for recovery and how I’m going to make it through what I know will be the most challenging time of my life.
Peters adds, “Cancer has been chasing me for 29 years now, and in all that time, I have managed to outrun the disease and stay alive. My focus and resolve remain the same, and I’m determined to keep running even harder to stay one step ahead and resume my life as a husband, father, and musician as soon as possible.”
Mike, we wish you a full recovery – fuck cancer!
After Mike’s initial cancer diagnosis in 1995 he founded the Love Hope Strength Foundation with his wife (and breast cancer survivor) Jules Peters to help build awareness and fight against cancer through advocacy and bone marrow drives. According to the foundattion, Love Hope Strength has “registered 250,000 people onto International Stem Cell Registries and identified over 4,500 potentially lifesaving matches, giving hope to blood cancer patients who would otherwise be denied a chance of life.”