NEW FOUND GLORY's CHAD GILBERT Undergoes Surgery To Remove Tumor Of Adrenal Gland

Guitarist Chad Gilbert of the long-running pop-punk band NEW FOUND GLORY has been diagnosed with pheochromocytoma, a rare type of tumor that develops in the adrenal glands, small glands on the top of the kidneys.

A week after his diagnosis, the 40-year-old musician underwent successful surgery to remove the tumor and has since credited his wife and the hospital staff with saving his life.

Gilbert, who co-founded NEW FOUND GLORY in 1997, detailed his ordeal in an Instagram post which included a post-operation photo of him lying apparently sedated in his hospital bed.

He wrote: "For the last 14 days I've been living in the hospital having cancer removed. Here's the timeline of my unexpected journey:

"On December 5th, my wife found me unresponsive in bed. I'd been waking up drenched in sweat the last few days and we thought I was sick. Not being able to wake me, she called 911 and performed CPR and mouth to mouth. Apparently I was doing something called 'agonal breathing' and was minutes from death. I woke up with 7 paramedics surrounding my bed. I was so confused. My blood sugar somehow dropped to 20 and if my wife hadn't found me, I would've fallen into a coma or died. The paramedics took me to the ER in an ambulance. They couldn't figure out why my blood sugar kept dropping or why my blood pressure kept skyrocketing, even with blood pressure medication in my system. I was hooked up to two different drips I couldn't be separated from. The next day, an amazing endocrinologist visited me and asked a bunch of questions about my health. It honestly felt like she was an angel from heaven. She told me based on all my symptoms that I have a very rare tumor called a Pheochromocytoma! It's a tumor that grows on your adrenal gland and messes up all of your hormones. It was eating all my glucose, changing my hormones, and raising my blood pressure. I couldn't survive without IVs until this tumor was removed.

"12/6 I received a CT scan which showed some alarming news. My tumor was malignant and had grown from my adrenal gland onto my liver. It was huge. Which made my Pheochromocytoma even more rare since they usually are benign.

"12/8, three days since my amazing wife saved me from dying in bed. I was transported to a major hospital and moved into the ICU. I got an MRI which showed that the tumor was in fact one growth and had not spread to other parts of my body. Now that my miracle doctor, cancer doctor, and incredible surgeon had all the info they needed, they scheduled my surgery for Monday, 12/13.

"Now it's 4 days until surgery. This is when so much personal growth occurred. Looking back on the timing of all of this, the incredible people put in my life to save me, the hospital staff whom I have the highest respect for, the way they took care of me while caring for an entire intensive care unit… I just can't believe the strength these nurses have.

"My wife Lisa and my mom were the driving forces of my positivity. The only cure for a pheochromocytoma is surgery, one of my worst fears. But if surgery went well, all the glucose consumption, high blood pressure, and any other hormonal changes would immediately go away.

"When I got to pre-op, the surgeon drew the size of the tumor on a dry erase board to clarify how intense, large and dangerous my surgery was gonna be. But still reassured us he's done many way more difficult. So grateful for him! The surgery was predicted to be 4 and a half hours but he finished it in two. The tumor wasn't attached to anything tricky so they basically cut it out and peeled it off. But man this scar is insanely big. I couldn't grasp how large the tumor was until now.

"I was sedated and drugged up and don't remember anything from surgery day. My surgeon came in the next morning and let us know he got it all out!! Now we just needed the pathology report to make sure no cancer got in the lymphnodes.

"The joy and excitement from all the nurses and and doctors involved was super emotional. I didn't have a lot of family and friends around since it all happened so fast. But the hospital staff became that extra support and family, giving me cards and little gifts.

"The night of the 15th I was moved from the ICU to the Cancer Center. There I recovered from surgery! I'll know about future treatments in a few weeks but for now I'm able to come home!!!

"It's Sunday, December 19th. Yesterday was the first time I got to smell fresh air since December 5th. I'm home with my wife and baby and so thankful to be alive!!"

This is not Gilbert's first cancer scare. Back in 2010, he underwent thyroid surgery to remove a suspicious lump. While he was recovering from that operation, guitarist Anthony Raneri of BAYSIDE stepped in for Gilbert on NEW FOUND GLORY's tour.

Earlier this month, NEW FOUND GLORY gave fans an early Christmas gift — a brand new holiday album, "December's Here", out now via Hopeless Records. NEW FOUND GLORY is helping fans get into the holiday spirit with eleven original songs, including recent singles "Somber Christmas" and "Holiday Records".

Earlier this year, NEW FOUND GLORY released a new deluxe album, "Forever And Ever x Infinity...And Beyond!!!""Forever And Ever x Infinity...And Beyond!!!" featured six new songs that the band wrote and recorded during the pandemic, including latest singles "Backseat" and "The Last Redeye".

NEW FOUND GLORY recently wrapped the "Pop Punk's Still Not Dead" tour, which featured support from LESS THAN JAKE, HOT MULLIGAN and LØLØ.

NEW FOUND GLORY is Gilbert, Jordan Pundik (lead vocals),Ian Grushka (bass guitar) and Cyrus Bolooki (drums).