Bruce Corbitt (Warbeast / Rigor Mortis) Receives Bad News After Cancer Treatment
Earlier this year Warbeast and Rigor Mortis vocalist Bruce Corbitt was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus, forcing him to retire from singing — but not before one final, triumphant show with the band.
Bruce has been undergoing treatment since May but received some bad news over the holidays: it didn’t work and the cancer has spread, and doctors are giving him anywhere from two months to two years left to live.
After the initial shock, Corbitt seems to be taking the news as well as possible given the circumstances: he’s accepted his fate and has vowed to live what remains of his life to the fullest.
In a series of emotional Facebook posts, he laid out the details of his treatment, the prognosis, his options going forward and his feelings on everything. You can read those below:
“Bad news, ill give more details after I go get blood work with Chemo doctor. But my 7 month fight didn’t work. They say ill be lucky to make it another year.”
“There are no miracle cures going to save my situation. I know y’all mean well, but please spare me this don’t give up, don’t pay attention to their diagnosis and seek other hospitals a million miles away from me. None of that is going to happen. I won’t give up, but I’ve accepted there’s no chance. We can hope I make it another year or more if I’m lucky. But I’m mainly worried about having some quality life in my final days. So let’s see what kind of game plan we come up with. Love y’all and thanks again for helping me with this fight.”
“Chemo doc confirmed what I was already told….. I’m doomed. I’ll explain more details if I ever get my mind clear enough. Certainly they can’t predict an exact time ill die. It will obviously be longer or shorter than what they guess. But still same results in the end with no hopes of survival.
“Just added new appointment with my surgeon for in morning. After I see him the 3 of them will decide on a game plan and give me my options. But after what I was just told, I may not agree to their treatment options. Not because I’m giving up, but because I want to go out on my own terms.
“My regret now is not waiting to do the scan in early March. I would have at least had that time to think I still had hope. I would have probably been able to perform on April 21st when we renew our vows at the Rail Club. But if I agree to what they’re talking about doing, no way will I be able to perform that night. But hopefully I can at least renew my vows with Jeanna Corbitt. I feel so bad for her, she picked a lemon as a hubby and might be a widow before she reaches 50.
“I love y’all so much… fuck cancer!”
“Dear EVERYONE!
“I did my best to make myself and everyone else proud of me during this fight with Cancer. I’m not saying I’m giving up fighting when I report my results and prognosis. I will continue to fight until my last breath! I will also continue to try other cures besides those the specialists have tried.
“Anyway, I was also just told by my surgeon that there is no hope for me to beat this now. That’s 3 specialists that have all tried to find some way of still curing me after these recent scan results… and all 3 agree we can’t win now. I knew my surgeon would be the one to give me any hope at all if there was any at all… but he just couldn’t do it. He says his guess is it could be anywhere from 2 months to maybe 2 years…. living one year would be lucky. But of course no one can predict how fast this cancer will continue to spread and eventually kill me.
“What has happened is the cancer has spread into numerous lymph nodes around my Kidneys since the surgery 3 ½ months ago. It will continue to spread to other lymph nodes and then to my organs… we can only guess which one/ones that will be. Also there is some fluid in my left lung that could be benign or malignant.
“The specialists have talked over options like doing more chemo, or more radiation…. or both and then surgery… or just chemo and then surgery. But the surgeon admitted this would probably do more harm than good to remove these Lymph nodes… and it wouldn’t be a cure… or even guarantee I would live any longer. He said in his opinion I should take a little time to think about it. Then his 2 choices he suggested were that I just not do anything and try to live as good of life as I can in my time left. Or the other suggestion was to try one round of chemo and see if I can handle it.
“Remember I’m still very weak from this surgery and this time the chemo would be way more intense than the chemo he used on me months ago. Then if I can handle doing all the rounds of chemo… and a new scan showed it had done some good to the lymph nodes… then he would consider doing the surgery to remove them. But he said that the chances of that were like only 10% and that it still wouldn’t guarantee a longer life… or a much longer. So for those of you that are still wanting to have some kind of miracle… there is some slim and none hope left.
“Now they are also checking to see if my health insurance will cover me trying to go to MD Anderson in Houston for a few days to get a 2nd opinion and see if they have any other options. But my surgeon said they will just offer these same options… especially trying to give me chemo. But of course of insurance covers it… I will try anything. Just like I will continue to try cannabis oil and other types of cures some people believe in.
“Yes I’m in shock, devastated, discouraged, depressed, angry, upset etc. I fought so hard for 7 months. But I’ve only felt good maybe 3 weeks out of those 7 months. So my decision will take that into consideration. Because they are ready to start doing treatments very soon. But here I am in the last 2 weeks just now starting to feel better from the surgery… but still VERY WEAK. I still get winded very easily… so I’m probably still 2 or 3 months away from full recovery. So am I able mentally and physically to start over again with even more intense radiation and chemo etc.? I honestly don’t know!
“I may not have won this fight… but I did beat it longer than most would have. I got some extra time in life. I couldn’t have done it without my beautiful wife Jeanna Corbitt! The hardest part for me is just knowing that I will have to leave her. Seriously thanks all of you for believing in me and fighting hard right by my side. I know you will respect my decision on whether I continue anymore treatments or if I just live out the rest of my life.
“I may not get to finish my goals now… the book, the 2nd part of the Rigor documentary etc. But I’m still proud of everything I did accomplish as far as reaching other goals and dreams in my life. If I’m very lucky…. Maybe I will return to the stage one last time on April 21st… the night I renew my vows with Jeanna. That is one dream I hope I don’t have to give up too.
“So my friends… I admit I’m the last person ready to accept I’m going to die from this cancer. I love life so much! It’s hard to even concentrate on anything right now… time just goes so fast as it is. But it’s really going to go so fast for me now. I hope I get to spend some quality time with all of my friends before I go. Probably while I’m feeling decent is the best chance. Down the road I may get too sick to wanna see too many people. I know y’all will understand that too… if and when that time comes. I’m very thankful for having such a great Christmas and even a party on my Birthday last week. That night I will never forget…. I was feeling and looking good. I was so happy to see so many friends… and for that one night we were ALL were convinced I had beaten cancer. Thanks again y’all for throwing that party for me.
“FUCK CANCER and FUCK 2017!!!!”
Needless to say, we wish all the best to Bruce, his family, his friend and his bandmates. He seems to be taking this news as well as anyone possibly could; much respect for stepping up and accepting reality! There is a GoFundMe campaign to help cover Bruce’s medical expenses; you can donate here.
Thanks: Jamie B.
