William Shatner health: Actor on his ‘really scary’ health ordeal – ‘I was going to die’

William Shatner gets emotional after Blue Origin landing

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In a career spanning over seven decades, the star became best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the mega successful Star Trek franchise. Since then he has won two Emmy Awards and enjoyed a music career which has seen him release three albums, where he speaks lyrics of famous songs in a dramatic reading style. Last year, Shatner appeared in romcom Senior Moment alongside Jean Smart, which focuses on the realities of growing older, something that he knows all too well himself as the actor nears 91 years old.

In an interview on CBC Radio Q to promote the film last year, Shatner told host Tom Power what he thought about turning 90.

He said: “It’s disgusting. It’s a disgusting number. I mean, I don’t like 90. When I heard that 90 was coming up, I thought, ‘What the heck is that?’ I remember 90 way back when I was in Canada and I thought, ’90! People don’t live till 90.’ And here I am.”

At one point while the star was promoting this latest film, he had an aptly named “senior moment” where he couldn’t remember the name of the movie: “Getting older is terrifying,” he added.

“That shaft of fear hits you. Like, wait a minute, I don’t know where I’m going. I’m totally lost. I totally don’t know where I’m going and what I’m doing. I had that for a moment — a split second.”

As the star has explained in the past, it is not only his age that has made him worry about death. Back in 2016, the star was given a prostate cancer diagnosis, which at the time he thought would be a “death sentence”.

Although the initial prostate cancer diagnosis was later proved to be false, and the actor didn’t in fact have cancer, the ordeal gave Shatner a new outlook on life and indeed death, something that he spoke about when promoting his book.

Writing about his ordeal for NBC, the star explained that he had been taking testosterone supplements and after a check-up at the doctors his PSA levels (prostate specific antigen) were at a whopping 10 – when normal levels should be at one or two.

“That was really scary,” Shatner said when asked about his ordeal. “I was told by a doctor I had a terminal disease. That I was going to die. The measurement for prostate cancers called PSA, should be in one or two and mine was until one day it became 10.

“I had been taking testosterone supplements and suddenly it was a 10 and I thought ‘that’s the end of the world!’ I gulped as I have been so lucky and fortunate in terms of health, but suddenly my luck had turned.”

Due to his worrying PSA levels, Shatner’s doctor believed that he might have and aggressive form of prostate cancer, which led the actor to believe that the disease would be the thing to kill him.

“My regular doctor explained that prostate cancer sometimes is very aggressive and sometimes is so benign you’ll die of something else long before it kills you. Kills me? That couldn’t be happening,” he explained.

“On an intellectual level, I understood my prognosis; I had made out my will, which said that when I died this person got this, that person got that.

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“But on an emotional level, I was certain I was never going to die. I denied it. To me, it was to make out my will, then have a nice piece of strudel. Death didn’t apply to me.

“My initial reactions to the diagnosis were, I suppose, quite common: denial, fear, anger — as well as a dose of being insulted. I am in my eighties; I have lived a long life, but I certainly wasn’t ready for it to end.”
Prostate Cancer UK explains that the disease affects the walnut shaped gland, which sits underneath the bladder and surrounds the urethra. The job of the prostate is to help make semen, but sometimes cancer cells uncontrollably develop in the area.

Cancer contained inside of the prostate is known as localised prostate cancer, whereas cancer spreading to other parts of the body is known as advanced prostate cancer. In both cases, individuals typically do not have any symptoms, but possible signs to watch out for can include:

• Back pain, hip pain or pelvis pain
• Problems getting or keeping an erection
• Blood in the urine or semen
• Unexplained weight loss.

If individuals experience these symptoms it is important to go and get checked by a medical professional, as other health problems aside from prostate cancer could be causing these side effects.

Luckily for Shatner, he stopped taking the testosterone supplement pills, and his PSA levels had dropped back down to one in three months, making his diagnosis wrong, but for others they are not so lucky.

“As the cancer specialists explained to Elizabeth [his wife] and me, we get cancer cells all the time and usually your body eats them up,” Shatner explained when describing his misdiagnosis.

“Your killer cells, T-cells, attack and destroy them. The body gets cancer all the time and eliminates it, but that test is so sensitive it picked up the hint of it and combined with the PSA reading convinced me I was dying.”

For the 47,500 men in the UK who are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK every year, treatment will be needed. There are different treatment options available depending on the type of prostate cancer individuals have, but the most common include:

• Active surveillance
• Surgery
• External beam radiotherapy
• Brachytherapy.

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