The entire hardcore community, and beyond, have been pulling for Sick Of It All vocalist Lou Koller after he revealed back in June that he was diagnosed adenocarcinoma cancer, a tumor that begins in his esophagus and extends into his stomach. The GoFundMe set up by Lou’s brother Pete Koller to cover the medical expenses has exceeded its goal by over $100,000.
Yesterday, Lou posted a video update on social media (which was transcribed by Blabbermouth), saying that he had just completed his fourth session of chemotherapy ahead of his upcoming surgery.
"Hey, everybody. Lou here,” Lou Koller said in his update. “I just wanna give you a quick update. Today was chemo session number four, last of the pre-surgery chemos. So now I have a month till the surgery, which is on October 24th. So far I feel okay. Little dizzy, little tired, body aches, same thing that happens all the time. Have my take-home pack of chemo right here. Mm-hmm. See, I get a bonus every time. I wear it for 24 hours and they then they take it out tomorrow. This is the one that really messes me up. So after tomorrow, I will be useless for, like, four or five days. So that's that.”
"I'm really thankful that you guys sold out the benefit show that quickly," he continued regarding the Nocember 23 benefit show at Irving Plaza in New York City. "The lineup is insane. It's gonna be an amazing show. I don't know if I can be there. Depends on how much I healed after the surgery. It's gonna be a good time in between the surgery and the show. But also, my doctor's advice was, 'Don't test your immune system in that environment.' What are you gonna do?
"But, like I said, I'm doing good,” he said at the end of his update. “I got a lot of chemo side effects, like numbness in my fingertips, losing hair… At least I got my eyebrows still… And I got my eyelashes. I miss my hair. I hate looking in the mirror. I scare myself in the bathroom at night, like, 'Who the hell's that guy?' [Laughs] Anyway, just messing around. I hope you are all doing good. And thank you for supporting me and SICK OF IT ALL.”
Chemotherapy is no joke; it’s an utterly brutal treatment that, while lifesaving, is still extremely debilitating. We wish Koller all the luck in the world for his treatments and upcoming surgery. The hardcore community everywhere is behind you, Lou!
