Eric Braeden yr victor priscilla grant ec
Credit: Priscilla Grant/Courtesy of the Everett Collection

It was 43 years ago when Eric Braeden started out on Young & Restless in what was supposed to be a short-term run. Fast-forward to the present and viewers have enjoyed over four decades of Victor Newman, who has become a household name and the face of the soap. The audience either loves Victor or loves to hate him, but Braeden is indisputably a fan favorite. That’s why the latest news on his health is going to be tough to hear.

In a recent Facebook live, the star detailed his eye-opening recovery from knee surgery, which sidelined the man “from the sports world”, who likes to work out every day, for longer than he’d have liked. He recalled trying to do squats in the days after the surgery, which he soon learned was not a good idea. Believing he’d done damage, and relieved to find out he hadn’t, Braeden slowed the push to accelerate his healing. But during this time he was also dealing with something else health-wise.

Braeden took to social media to talk about his experience in hopes that other men of a certain age might find it helpful. It seems the actor began having problems with his prostate that escalated to the point that he was having to get up to urinate almost every half hour during the night — while recovering from knee surgery — which we don’t need to tell you, isn’t ideal.

When it got to the point where he couldn’t go pee to relieve the pressure at all, intervention was required. This solved the problem for a time, and an examination of his bladder by the urologist resulted in him getting the all-clear.

But that wasn’t the last of the issues. When Braeden realized, on his way to the CBS studios to film Young & Restless one day, that he was back in the same predicament and was once again experiencing the pain and discomfort of not being able to “go”, he made his way to Cedars-Sinai, where he saw a different urologist for the urgent matter.

It was this urologist, who distracted him with a story of having learned English while watching Young & Restless when he first came to the United States from Vietnam, whilst inserting his catheter, who discovered something more sinister — Braeden had cancer in his bladder.

Confident that they could remove it, the urologist performed surgery to do so, along with a Urolift, a procedure that utilizes a tiny implant to relieve the pressure on the urethra from the enlarged prostate. However, at a follow-up appointment, Braeden was told that a biopsy revealed he had high-grade cancer cells amongst the low-grade cancer cells, which made it necessary to undergo what is called BCG treatments.

Braeden has received the first two treatments, which involves injecting a solution via catheter to stimulate the immune system to fight the high-grade cancer cells. He gets this done once a week and it causes flu-like symptoms.

The very tough actor says it hasn’t been too bad, but became emotional at the end of the message to his followers as he gave reassurances that he would beat this and thanked his fans for their support. He also urged his followers to support others in their lives that are going through a cancer battle. You can watch his message below:

SOAPS is sending Braeden love, positive vibes, and prayers for a speedy and full recovery. Instead of Victor’s signature, “You got that?!” we’ll say, “You’ve got this!”

Please feel free to leave messages of support and/or to share your own stories in the comment section below.

See Eric Braeden as Victor Newman through the years through the years in the photo gallery below.