Lou Koller, frontman of hardcore punk legends Sick of It All, hit social media this past week with a massive update in his fight against cancer—he’s officially wrapped up chemotherapy.
“Last day of chemo,” Koller said with a smile in a video posted to the band’s Instagram. “Last day of chemo. Thanks for all of your support. I’m doing pretty good. Gonna deal with this stuff, be sick for about a week and a half, and then start the healing.”
He added, “Just gotta get my voice and body back in shape. Thanks, everybody. See ya.”
The road to recovery isn’t over just yet. In the caption, Koller shared that his fingers and feet are still numb, and he has no clue when that will fade. Same goes for his taste buds. “Right now, I kind of taste what I’m eating, but it’s overpowered by a chemical/metallic taste,” he wrote. “But it will be just a memory soon.”
Koller first revealed his diagnosis last June, dropping the news in an emotional Instagram video.
“What’s up, everybody?” he said at the time. “Lou here. As you may or may not know, we had to cancel our full European tour this summer. There’s some rumors going around as to why, and we are here to set the record straight. But we wanted to wait until we got all the information before making an announcement.”
Then came the gut punch.
“The reason that it’s canceled is because they found a tumor in my esophagus that goes into my stomach, and I’ll have to be getting treatment all summer,” he said. “Of course, I had full support of the band. As soon as they heard it, they were like, ‘Forget the tour. Just get healthy.’”
Now, with chemo in the rearview, the Sick of It All frontman is focused on getting back to full strength. And knowing Koller, it won’t be long before he’s back where he belongs—on stage, mic in hand, tearing it up like only he can.
