Tom Brokaw, 79, reveals he takes medical marijuana to relieve his pain after beating blood cancer

Tom Brokaw, 79, reveals he takes medical marijuana to relieve his pain after beating blood cancer

  • Tom Brokaw was diagnosed with cancer in 2013
  • He went into remission but he has lingering pain in his bones
  • On Tuesday, the 79-year-old revealed he takes marijuana for the pain 

Tom Brokaw is taking and promoting medical marijuana.

The 79-year-old Emmy-winning newscaster, known for his straight-laced views, revealed on Tuesday that he turned to the drug to ease his pain from multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. 

Brokaw’s disease in currently under control, and cannabis, which is legal in his winter-home state of Florida, is providing some relief from the lingering pain in his bones.  

Speaking in a video for cancer site SurvivorNet, he said the drug is giving him back his quality of life. 

‘I’m now on medical marijuana,’ Brokaw said in the video.

‘I’ve been a very lucky guy. We’ve had a great life. And I want it to go on.’

The 79-year-old Emmy-winning newscaster, known for his straight-laced views, revealed on Tuesday that he turned to the drug to ease his pain from multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer

Tom Brokaw was first diagnosed with cancer in 2013, nine years after he ended his 22-year run at NBC Nightly News. 

He has always been active – climbing, fishing and cycling – but he had battled orthopedic issues over the years.

In the summer of 2013, his back was consistently painful. He went to his internist, and a blood test revealed cancer. 

As Brokaw regales in the video for SurvivorNet, his internist (‘very, very smart’) ‘went to a chief oncologist at the Mayo Clinic and said, “I think Tom Brokaw has got multiple myeloma.”‘

Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma, the white blood cells in bone marrow, diagnosed in about 30,000 Americans a year. 

Treatments can alleviate pain but it is not curable. 

The average life expectancy is around five years, though some live another 10 or 12 years.  

After receiving his diagnosis from the Mayo Clinic, Brokaw flew back to his family’s summer home, a remote ranch in Montana, to tell his wife, Meredith, in person after pouring a long drink. 

Twenty-four hours later he was in ‘excruciating pain’ and had to be medevacked back to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He concedes that ‘99.9 percent of people’ in his situation would not be as fortunate to have such immediate and top-quality help. 

When he was diagnosed, Brokaw said, ‘I didn’t know what the hell they were talking about – proteins, bone invasion, a hole in your hip. 

‘Finally I went into my journalistic mode. How long? What are the chances? What are the treatments? Personal side was: “my God, am I going to die? Are we alright in our family? Do we have everything arranged?”

‘I had a life that was so trouble-free and suddenly I was looking at this deep, dark hole.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk