EXODUS Drummer's Doctors Performed 'A Surgery Within A Surgery' To Remove Second Type Of Cancer From His Abdomen Wall

EXODUS drummer Tom Hunting says that his doctors found "a second type of cancer" while they were preparing to perform a surgery on him during his battle with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the stomach.

The 56-year-old, who underwent a successful total gastrectomy in July 2021, discussed his ordeal in a new interview with Zetro's Toxic Vault, the YouTube channel run by EXODUS singer Steve "Zetro" Souza. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "They've gotta cut your skin and then they've gotta cut your muscle. They've gotta get into, basically, your very core and pull out this huge organ, which had a tumor inside it. And also, as a curveball… They do an exploratory surgery ahead of time called laparoscopy where they basically… They cut a little slit, they go in with a camera and with another device that kind of moves organs out of the way so the camera can proceed and keep going — like, look at stuff. And they found what they thought was the same kind of cancer in my stomach on my abdomen wall. And it was a form of mesothelioma, and I was, like, 'What?' But at first, they thought they were looking at the same cancer I had in my stomach, in which case I would have been stage four plus — forget about it. This guy gets chemo. Keep him comfortable until ultimately it takes you out. But, anyways, the fact that I had a second type of cancer — it's called peritoneal mesothelioma — they did a surgery within a surgery… The whole thing, looking back on it, is pretty mindblowing."

Hunting also talked about his recovery and the way his gastrectomy has affected his everyday life, including the way he plays the drums.

"[Once] you get out of the hospital, then you're on your own and then you think about survivability," he said. "'Cause you're walking around with this huge scar. And you can't eat normal amounts. It's an adjustment phase where you're kind of freaking out, but you've got to just lean into it and let your body adjust to not having that organ anymore… You learn to eat again. Like, I eat smaller portions but more often. I always carry snacks. I'm trying to gain weight again and gain muscle mass. I'm lifting [weights]; I'm doing pushups; I'm hiking a lot; I'm playing a shit-ton of drums. But I thought that the surgery and everything would leave me… I definitely mourned for the beast that I used to be, I guess, is the way I can put it. 'Cause I was a big guy — always 190, 195 [pounds] — but after all of this, I feel completely different… I'm about 165, 167 is my normal weight. I was a little bit heavy before all of this happened. They told me the weight's cool right now and I can gain weight a little bit — more protein stuff, more pushups, more lifting or whatever. And I'll do all that. But from a drumming standpoint, I was surprised by just how… I was, like, 'Man, I'm not gonna have no power.' And that's what I'm starting to get back now. And I'm, like, there's something to this — being a little bit smaller-framed and more limber. Kind of like Donald Tardy from OBITUARY."

Last December, Hunting told the "Put Up Your Dukes" podcast that he wants to use his experience as a cancer survivor to interact with others who may be going through a similar situation.

"I'm not qualified now, but I think in a couple of more months, they deem me qualified to talk to other people about this disease, and I'm gonna do it," he said. "'Cause I want people to know about it and I want people to get checked. Just going public with it — I don't do social media, but what I read on the EXODUS [sites] was, like, 'Hey, I'm having gut problems too,' and, 'I'm gonna go get checked out now.' I hope people get the answers they're looking for."

"I'm not saying those drugs that they give you for your gut are bad. They get you by. But if you're having what you think is a gut problem, tell 'em you wanna get scoped. 'Cause some of those scans and some of those tests, they won't pick up what's going on inside there.

"Since I'm on this journey, dude, they're fucking scanning me constantly," Tom added. "'Cause they wanna see how I'm reacting to what they're doing too. So it's all part of the science and the evolution of the science. If they can help me live — and I love my life — and I can help them develop the science to help the next batch of people who you know are gonna get this shit, that's a win-win."

Hunting rejoined his EXODUS bandmates on stage in October at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California.

EXODUS tapped John Tempesta to play drums for the band at Psycho Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada in August and at Full Terror Assault in Cave In Rock, Illinois in September while Hunting was recovering from surgery. Tempesta was a member of EXODUS from 1989 until 1993 and played on the band's albums "Impact Is Imminent" (1990) and "Force Of Habit" (1992).

A GoFundMe campaign to help Hunting with medical expenses had previously raised more than $114,000 — including $5,000 from Tom's former EXODUS bandmate, current METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett, and $1,500 from FOZZY singer and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho.

EXODUS released its new album, "Persona Non Grata", on November 19 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP was recorded at a studio in Lake Almanor, California and was engineered by Steve Lagudi and EXODUS. It was produced by EXODUS and was mixed by Andy Sneap. For the third time in the band's history, they returned to Swedish artist Pär Olofsson to create the album artwork.

"Persona Non Grata" is the follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out", which was the San Francisco Bay Area thrashers' first release since the departure of EXODUS's singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.