Some Health Appointments Will Be Delayed for Queen Elizabeth II’s Funeral, Ryan Reynolds Gets Colonoscopy and Has Potentially Pre-Cancerous Polyp Removed and More

September 16, 2022
Brielle Benyon
Brielle Benyon

Brielle Benyon, Assistant Managing Editor for CURE®, has been with MJH Life Sciences since 2016. She has served as an editor on both CURE and its sister publication, Oncology Nursing News. Brielle is a graduate from The College of New Jersey. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, CrossFit and wishing she had the grace and confidence of her toddler-aged daughter.

From the delay of some health care services in the United Kingdom due to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral to actor Ryan Reynolds broadcasting his colonoscopy — including the finding of a pre-cancerous polyp — here’s what’s happening in the cancer space this week.

Some health care procedures will be delayed on Monday due to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, though UK hospitals may still offer cancer treatment.

In honor of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Monday, Sept. 19, the United Kingdom declared the day a bank holiday. As such, banks, schools and corporations all over England will close, and some hospital appointments will be canceled.

The 1,200-plus National Health Services (NHS)-affiliated hospitals will be on a bank holiday, though the trust, according to BBC, encouraged each individual hospital to determine which appointments should be postponed.

In Wales, many hospitals will offer emergency services, while some will continue to give chemotherapy, dialysis and other life-sustaining treatments, while most surgical appointments, general physician appointments and pharmacies are likely to close, according to BBC News.

Ryan Reynolds had a polyp removed after broadcasting his colonoscopy experience.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney — both 45-year-old actors who are now starring in the FX series “Welcome to Wrexham” — shared a video of them undergoing a colonoscopy for Lead From Behind, an initiative from the Colorectal Cancer Alliance aimed at “making colon cancer famous.”

After undergoing the colonoscopy, the doctor told Reynolds that he found and removed a polyp on the right side of his colon.

"You are interrupting the natural history of a disease of something of a process that could have ended up developing into cancer and causing all sorts of problems,” the doctor told Reynolds in the video.

Clemson football player Bryan Bresee’s sister died of brain cancer.

Bryan Bresee recently announced that Ella, his 15-year-old sister, died from brain cancer. The defensive tackle from Clemson University shared the news on social media.

"My beautiful sister Ella, you amazed me every single day with the fight that you put up and how joyful you were constantly through this battle," Bresee wrote on Instagram. "Never did I think I would be sitting here today saying bye to you. I want to thank you for bringing happiness to not only me but so many people."

Ella visited Clemson last week, and the team planned to honor her during a game this weekend, though she had to return home when her health deteriorated.

A cancer survivor was gifted a painting of Dolly Parton alongside a video message from the country music star.

When Kentucky native Ann Marie Davis was diagnosed with cancer, the plans she had set with her sister, Kim Rager, to visit Dolly Parton’s Graduate Nashville Hotel were put on hold.

To cheer up her sister, Rager painted a picture of Parton for Davis, and reached out to the country music singer, who ended up sending Davis a video.

“I just want to leave your message saying we're all thinking of you all helping you get well soon,” Parton said in the video message. “(Your sister) says you're a fan. So thank you for being a fan … I'm sure you're going to be fine. Just wanted to say I will always love you.”

New series on Apple TV+ will show how cancer not only affects the patient, but loved ones as well.

“Life by Ella,” a family drama that recently launched on Apple TV+ will chronicle a middle school girl who is trying to regain a normal life after undergoing chemotherapy treatment. The series will show how the treatment affected Ella as well as her family members and best friends.

“I think, sadly, almost everyone has been touched by cancer, whether it’s by some degree of separation; it’s just so prevalent. Jeff (Holden, the show’s other co-creator) and I both have friends and family members who have had cancer. Some of whom went through the treatment process and came out the other side, (cancer) just changed people,” the show’s co-creator Tim Pollock said to Forbes.

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