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Geetha Shivarajkumar opens up on Shivarajkumar’s cancer diagnosis: ‘He’s been battling it since March last year…’

Shivarajkumar had a couple of procedures before his recent surgery in Miami, where is bladder was removed and a new one was created. The actor is now said to be cancer free  

Geetha Shivarajkumar opens up on Shivarajkumar’s cancer diagnosis: ‘He’s been battling it since March last year…’
Geetha Shivarajkumar and Shivarajkumar

Last Updated: 07.06 PM, Jan 30, 2025

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A few days ago, Kannada star Shivarajkumar returned from the USA, where he spent a month for a surgery to remove and reconstruct his bladder, following a cancer diagnosis. While news of the actor’s ill-health began doing the rounds in Sandalwood circles in October last year, when he began promoting his last release, Bhairathi Ranagal, his wife, Geetha Shivarajkumar now clarifies that he’s been in treatment since March 2024.

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Shivarajkumar went to Miami for surgery and is now back in India
Shivarajkumar went to Miami for surgery and is now back in India

Unusual urine was first sign for Shivarajkumar

In a candid interview with B Ganapathi, Geethakka, as she is fondly known, opened up about the first time she knew something was wrong with her husband. An abnormality in his urine was the first warning sign, after which Shivarajkumar was immediately asked to undergo a battery of tests, including ultrasound scans. Based on the reports, Geethakka and Shivarajkumar were advised to begin treatment at the earliest.

Prior to the US trip, Shivarajkumar two surgeries too, she says, adding that he’d been given an all-clear report after the second procedure. However, not long after, a follow-up check-up revealed that the cancer had spread to another part, following which chemotherapy was started. “During the initial phase of the treatment, even Shivarajkumar was not aware that he was dealing with cancer. He’d been told he had an infection. Only a few members of the family knew what was actually going on,” she says.

At the time, Shivarajkumar was still judging Dance Karnataka Dance, a show on which they’d often call him on stage to do a move or two. “I had to tell the showrunner and host about his condition, as he’d already had 2 surgeries by then and would get exhausted from any strenuous effort. They treated him with utmost care thereafter and began to call on him to come up on stage rarely, which had him wondering why, but we did not tell him then,” explains Geethakka.

Shivarajkumar
Shivarajkumar

By the third time, the doctor said that the cancer was spreading fast and that quick surgical intervention was required. “It was only then that we finally told him that he had cancer,” she says. While Shivarajkumar remained brave in the face of the diagnosis, he did break down a couple of times, once with his family and another time when he spoke to his doctors to discuss treatment options. “The doctors were clear that there was no threat to life, but treatment had to be done with immediate effect. Shivarajkumar composed himself and then told the doctors that he was entrusting himself to them,” she adds.

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