Broadcaster Oliver Callan has revealed his absence from the airwaves in recent days was due to surgery for skin cancer.
The RTÉ One morning radio show host told listeners he had “gone off for a very minor procedure which I’d thought would just put me off-air for two days, but it turned out to be a longer spell”.
Mr Callan said the cancer was “one of those mild skin cancers – basal cell carcinoma” which he had developed “like thousands of us out there with our Irish skin”.
“It doesn’t spread to your body so it’s not that scary, but it has to be surgically removed and mine is located on the face, which is a precious place when suddenly, someone comes at you with a scalpel, just between the edge of my nose and the corner of my lip.”
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The bad news for the impressionist and performance satirist who created Callan’s Kicks and Nob Nation is that he temporarily “couldn’t talk property” and was told not to laugh out loud for at least two weeks “or I’d end up with a nasty scar”.
“Fortunately there wasn’t a lot to smile about while I was gone with all the American carnage and all that trouble over the immigration element of our housing disaster,” Mr Callan told listeners on Monday
“But look, I’m back now, I did lots of research work for the show and I read some upcoming books with authors that we’ll be meeting over the rest of the summer.
“I’ve also started growing a moustache because I can’t shave at the scar yet, so as a result I look something like an inept sidekick of a provincial detective in a 1980s Sunday night TV drama. That’s the look I’m going for,” he said.
The broadcaster who replaced Ryan Tubridy on RTE’s flagship morning show also paid tribute to fellow broadcaster Maura Derrane for filling in for him “at short notice, and doing it really well”.
According to the US-based Mayo Clinic basal cell carcinoma often appears as a slightly transparent bump on the skin, though it can take other forms. Basal cell carcinoma occurs most often on areas of the skin that are exposed to the sun, such as your head and neck.
Most basal cell carcinomas are thought to be caused by long-term exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight. “Avoiding the sun and using sunscreen may help protect against basal cell carcinoma” the Mayo Clinic advised.
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