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Here’s Everything We Know About Beth Chapman’s Current Cancer Diagnosis
On Nov. 28, Beth Chapman received some seriously grim news. After undergoing emergency throat surgery, she learned that her cancer was back and she had another health battle to start fighting. With her husband Duane Lee Chapman, the star of Dog the Bounty Hunter, by her side, the reality personality shared that this was far from the end of the road for her — but she’s still got a long way to go. So what’s going on with her health exactly? Here’s everything we know about her current struggles.
Until now, Beth Chapman had been cancer free for over a year.
In last year’s A&E special, Dog and Beth: Fight Of Their Lives, the couple shared her cancer journey up and that she had reached the point where she was officially in recovery. “Part of me feels it’s hard to believe that I had it, part of me thinks it’s hard to believe it’s gone,” Beth told In Touch after the show premiered on Nov. 27, 2017. “I had a doctor’s appointment just recently where they went in and checked and did another scope down my throat, and the doctor said that it looks like I’m in good condition now… She got the margins all the way around it and she recommended that I keep my talking to a bare minimum, like 15 minutes an hour, and keep all the stress out of my life right now. She said stress is the No. 1 contributor to cancer, so while [I’m] trying to recover from it, [I] need to keep all of those things away from [me].”
But her cancer had been particularly serious.
In September 2017, the couple revealed that Beth had been diagnosed with stage 2 throat cancer. On the show, her doctors gave her a 50/50 shot at beating it. “I realize the road I am about to travel will be rocky, full of unexpected twists and turns. But I know one thing for sure,” she said. “A bend in the road is not the end of the road. I will fight every step of the way. My husband and children are counting on me to be there for years to come. I am so very grateful to be surrounded by family and friends who have given me incredible support during this very challenging time.”
To fight her illness, she had to undergo a 13-hour cancer removal surgery. The doctors removed a T2 tumor the size of a plum from her throat in addition to her lymph nodes, which they worried had been infected. The star had been experiencing trouble breathing, and the surgery helped alleviate that, too. It did, however, take hours longer than the five-hour surgery they had planned on, but it seemed that all was well as Beth recovered.
A year later, though, she was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery.
It was actually a year to the day from when the A&E special aired that Duane hurried his wife to the hospital for a “life-threatening” emergency surgery. The day before, everything seemed to be fine as the couple went out to dinner, but it wasn’t long before she started feeling unwell. According to The Blast, Beth developed a “life-threatening blockage” in her throat, and it was only hours after that that doctors broke the news that her cancer had come back.
This time, the blockage they removed from her throat was twice as big, and they also discovered that her cancer may have spread to her lungs. A biopsy was performed, but the family is still waiting to hear the news. “They cut a hole in her throat so she can breathe,” Duane, 65, told Radar Online. “She can still talk, so she’s doing the best she can and remains incredibly strong.”
She shared her same inspirational message after her surgery.
The saying that got her through her first fight with cancer is helping with her second, too. “Another bend in the road, yet not the end of the road,” she shared on Instagram on Nov. 29. As for Duane, well, he’s not exactly doing as well as his wife is. “I love my honey so much, I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” he shared with In Touch. “Beth is strong as a bull. But I’m like… I think I’m in a bad dream and I need to wake up. People keep saying to me ‘Dog, are you OK?’ But I’m not the one who’s sick.”
The couple returned to Colorado on Dec. 1 to help alleviate Beth’s stress.
Like she said the first time around, stress can be dangerous, so Beth and her husband decided to leave the hospital and go home to where they felt safe. “She’s much more comfortable now she can breathe, but she just wanted to come back to Colorado, she loves it here,” the Bounty Hunter star told In Touch. “They told us they didn’t want her to leave the hospital, but she was adamant, she just wanted to be home. We have the test results coming in tomorrow.”
Beth did need help, though. The star required the use of a wheelchair to get on and off the plane during their travels. Her husband is also supporting her focus on her recovery, which means taking things easy, especially around the house. “I am going to be right there with her,” Duane promised to In Touch. “First thing when she woke up from the surgery… she said ‘Where’s the Dog?’ and the nurse was confused, she said, ‘Did she bring her dog with her?’ and I said, ‘Yes ma’am’. I’m here every moment I can be for her, I’ve never had to go through anything like this in my entire life.”
As of now, they’re waiting to hear back about the biopsy results.
But the family remains ever hopeful. Duane’s daughter Lyssa shared a positive message for her dad’s wife on her social media page, and it’s clear there’s plenty of love to go around. “I think you need to go through some stuff to really appreciate life and understand what it means to persevere, overcome, and have faith. I think those tough times make you a stronger person — Judith Hill,” the 31-year-old share, posting a photo of a beautiful sunset and adding the hashtags, “#F–Kcancer” and “#hugyourmom.”
A friend is helping the family stay strong, too. “It is the small things,” wrote Rainy Robinson, a member of the “On The Hunt” posse. “He indeed holds her heart in his hands. In the wee hours as we await the call of her emergence from the event, I am struck by many things. There isn’t much to do while you wait. Literally time feels like it’s standing still. So, you think. You watch. While many don’t understand the chaos and super cells this family weathers. I do. They are indeed the crazy glue that keeps each other together. They fight large and love even larger.”
“I watch as the patriarch fields constant contact from the outside wanting any shred of news. He guards her. Fiercely. He is in his own private hell. You know this. You can see it in his eyes and hear his voice crack when he speaks of her,” she continued. “He guards her as she has guarded him so many times before. Unwaveringly and unconditionally. For many this larger than life family can be baffling. For those of us that see it on the daily, it’s easy to understand. Because at the core is an absolute love for one another and the family they have created. What the future holds for all is unknown. What I do know is that none of them will be alone. There is a blanket of peace and serenity knowing this. You see, it is indeed the small things. The gestures, the soft words spoken, being present, providing encouragement, being humble, saying silent prayers, a wink, a squeeze of the hand or uttering the word Chiricahua. All of it mattered. Every. Single. Thing. ❤️💔❤️.”
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