In a candid revelation, actor David Ramsey has opened up about a silent struggle he faced earlier in his career: a battle with cancer. The 54-year-old actor, known for his role in “Arrow,” shared his personal journey on Michael Rosenbaum’s “Inside Of You” podcast.
Ramsey disclosed that he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer years ago, a diagnosis that led him through the arduous path of surgery and chemotherapy. Ultimately, he had to sacrifice a testicle in his fight against the disease.
The decision to keep this part of his life under wraps was something Ramsey pondered during his conversation with Rosenbaum. He reflected on his naturally laid-back demeanor, stating, “There’s a part of my personality that’s, in general, a little more, kind of, laid back… I love it. Period, no problem.” This approach, he noted, contributed to his choice not to share his cancer battle story earlier.
Despite his previous silence, Ramsey emphasized that his reticence was not due to a lack of desire to share. He simply felt that his outlook on life governed his initial decision to keep this chapter of his life private.
‘I mean, listen, there’s a part of my personality that’s, in general, a little more, kind of, laid back and “Hey, as it comes it comes and I’m enjoying it. I love it. Period, no problem.” That’s how I see the world and it’s worked for me,’ he explained, via Just Jared. ‘I think that’s kind of reflected in me not really sharing the story.’
He added that it wasn’t that he didn’t ‘want to’ tell his tale.
The Arrow actor David Ramsey (pictured in 2019 in San Diego, Calif.) revealed Monday on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside Of You podcast that he was diagnosed with testicular cancer years earlier
Ramsey (pictured on Arrow with costar Stephen Amell) secretly had surgery and underwent chemotherapy for the condition more than a decade earlier
‘It’s just not really my personality,’ he clarified. ‘Now, in more recent years, there’s an uptick in testicular cancer, there’s an uptick in cancer in general, and I should talk about this more.’
Ramsey explained that he first saw there was a problem because he was ‘kickboxing a lot,’ and he noticed that ‘one of the testes was significantly smaller than the other.’
‘Now that’s true no matter what. They’re not the same,’ Ramsey continued. ‘It’s like the side of your face, right? They don’t match, right? So that’s real no matter what.
‘But one was significant,’ he said. ‘So I went to the doctor.’
According to Ramsey, his doctor at first told him to just monitor his testicles, which they did periodically over the next 10 years, beginning when he was 28.
He joked that he thought at the time, ‘Do you want to take the testicle right now?’
Doctors were concerned after they spotted a condition called microlithiasis, which is seen on ultrasounds.
People with the rare condition usually have no symptoms, but in a small number of cases, they may experience chronic fatigue and depression, as well as hormonal imbalances.
He first noticed that one of his testicles was smaller than the other and saw a doctor, but after eight and half years of monitoring, one suddenly swelled up to the size of his first; Amell (L) is pictured with (L–R) Italia Ricci, Robbie Amell and Stephen Amell
Microlithiasis can also be associated with pain or swelling of the testicles, and in even rarer cases, it can lead to painful prostate stones.
However, the condition is not correlated with testicular cancer in most individuals, except for those who already have risk factors for developing the cancer.
‘Anyone that’s kind of gone through testicular cancer will understand ‘microlithiasis,’ Ramsey explained. That’s present if there’s cancer, but it can be present without cancer. So, they’re watching.’
Then, around eight and a half years after his doctor first told him to watch and wait, one of his testicles swelled up to the size of his fist ‘out of the blue,’ though he emphasized that it was ‘never painful.’
A trip to the doctor about the growth led to surgery to remove the testicle before he began a chemotherapy regimen.
Although chemotherapy wasn’t a breeze by any means, Ramsey said the worst part about it was seeing the children who shared the waiting room with him.
‘What was tougher was seeing the other kids in there going through it.
‘You’re sitting right there and you’re kind of locked in, you’re kind of getting the stuff pumped into you and you’ve got your laptop or whatever and you’re looking to some kid who has no hair and he’s 12 years old and his mother is right there next to him,’ Ramsey recalled. ‘And there’s another kid and then there’s a man who’s 70 and it’s just kind of like, “I’m all right.” You know what I mean? I’m all right.’
Ramsey recalled noticing how many children were receiving chemotherapy when he would go in for his treatments. He said the experience made him more grateful about the acting roles he won; pictured in 2019 in San Diego with Amell and Katie Cassidy
He added that the experience changed his approach to acting and made him more grateful for the roles he won.
‘You go back to the acting and like, “Oh, you know, you’re guest starring and now it’s my time.” It’s just not my perspective. My perspective is, “This is f***ing awesome, bro,” he said. ‘That’s always my perspective. All the time.’
Ramsey has been appearing in films going back to the late 1980s, but his big break came when he snagged the lead role in the UPN series Good News, which aired for one season beginning in 1997.
He had extensive roles on film and TV afterward, before scoring a recurring role as Anton Briggs on Dexter from 2008 to 2009, followed by a recurring part on Blue Bloods starting in 2011.
His biggest role to date has been in the main cast of the superhero series Arrow as Spartan, and he also played the character in several crossover episodes of The Flash, Legends Of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Batwoman and Superman & Lois.
More recently, he appeared on two episodes of the dramatic Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot, simply titled Bel-Air.
