INXS ProfileINXS guitarist Kirk Pengilly has opened up about a serious health issue he experienced this year in which he was diagnosed with "very aggressive" prostate cancer in February.
According to the Herald Sun, the 56-year-old musician revealed that he received the news by email just a day before he was to fly to New Zealand with his wife, Layne Beachley and was told that the only option was to remove his prostate.
"So the whole time we were in New Zealand, every bottle of wine was my last hurrah, every meal was my last hurrah," Pengilly said.
Beachley said the couple struggled to come to terms with the news at first: “It was an emotional roller-coaster, and a mental one. I think we were both in denial for the first few days."
A blood test taken in December 2014 encouraged Pengilly to see a specialist after his results came back with a high PSA rating.
"After that result at Christmas, I was advised to have an MRI and it showed a small black spot on the high side of my prostate," Pengilly recalled.
"It was my second MRI in fact, and because it was on the high side of the prostate it is possible they missed it with a biopsy I'd already had because they take the biopsy from underneath. So we had to be diligent to find it really. It proved to be very aggressive."
Upon returning home from their holiday, Pengilly underwent a five-hour operation after he was told that if he did not have the surgery, the cancer would surely spread to other organs.
In April, they received some good news in that Pengilly's cancer had been contained and that he would not need any follow up chemo-therapy or radiation.
Beachley said that Pengilly remained upbeat throughout the entire ordeal: "During the bad days Kirk just accepted he was having a bad day. He just accepted it."
"You don’t have to be up and positive and how can I make this better? Today’s a bad day but tomorrow’s a new day."
Pengilly's recovery is ongoing and it is expected to take between 12-18 months for him to be at full health again.
