LeBlanc, who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in June, says he is now in remission after having therapy.
Christian LeBlanc, star of The Young and the Restless, has revealed the reason behind his months-long hiatus from the popular daytime drama.
The 65-year-old actor announced publicly for the first time during an appearance on CBS affiliate 4WWL in New Orleans that he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma – a blood cancer that starts in plasma cells in the bone marrow — in June.
“I’d never spent a day in the hospital in my 65 years until this year,” he said of his surprising news. “It’s a common cancer but a very fast-moving one.”
He noted minor symptoms that something wasn’t quite right with his health leading up to his diagnosis, such as fast weight loss. “I put [my character] Michael [Baldwin’s] wedding ring on, and when I put my hand down, the ring fell off without friction.” “I thought, ‘What an odd thing,'” he remembered, adding that he had shed 35 pounds in two months.
On set, LeBlanc began to experience nosebleeds and realized that his eye had begun to droop. “My eye kind of got a little wonky,” he explained. He discovered he had a tumor in his sinus cavity that was pressing on his optic nerve after visiting a neurological ophthalmologist.
The actor claimed that spectators noticed a difference in the appearance of his eyes. “The fans caught it,” he laughed. “I was getting people like, ‘Your eye is a little Jim Carrey that way, a little Michael this way.”
LeBlanc is now in remission after immunotherapy treatment and striving to regain the weight he lost. “[My doctors] told me, ‘Eat like it’s your job,’ and I told them, ‘I was raised to fulfill this promise.'” ‘Louisiana, New Orleans, easy done,'” LeBlanc, who grew up in New Orleans, recounted.
LeBlanc also discussed how his cancer diagnosis was a case of life imitating art, since his TV character went through his own cancer struggle. “It’s intriguing. You reenact the scene in which you hear the word, simply the word, cancer, in a doctor’s office. And I got to play Michael Baldwin,” he explained.
In an exciting update for fans of the show, LeBlanc — who joined the cast in 1991 — revealed that he will return for the soap’s Thanksgiving episode.
In addition to his own cancer journey, LeBlanc mentioned costar Eric Braeden’s diagnosis and recovery from prostate cancer. During a Facebook Live in August, the 82-year-old German actor, who has played Victor Newman on the serial for more than 40 years, revealed that he is cancer-free.
“As of three days ago, I am cancer-free,” he declared in the video, before thanking his fans for their love and support.
“I thank you for all of your good thoughts, all of your prayers,” Braeden concluded. “I can tell you it obviously has helped because I had my last cystoscopy two days ago — that’s when they thread a camera into your bladder — and I am cancer-free.”
“They couldn’t find a damn thing,” he went on. “Isn’t that nice?”
