In 2018, he conquered his prostate cancer. Jean-Pierre Pernaut is now facing another disease, lung cancer. It was first the right side that was affected, then treated thanks to an operation that took place last July. Then, a month later, the doctors told him that his left lung was also sick. This time, impossible to operate again … In Life after, documentary broadcast Thursday, December 9 on C8 and that our colleagues from Parisian have already watched, Jean-Pierre Pernaut recounts these months of secrecy and evokes this heavy intervention.
It was July 5, 2021. Five days earlier, his wife Nathalie Marquay shares a vacation photo to cover his tracks. In reality, Jean-Pierre Pernaut is preparing to spend five hours in the OR. On D-day, he admits to having “a little scared“.”We spread the ribs, we open the lungs, we take the lobe where there is the tumor, we analyze if it has exceeded, if there are metastases…“, he remembers. The awakening is hard, three days later. Indeed, he finds himself “in the coaltar“in intensive care. But the main thing is there: the tumor has disappeared.
Everything was fine in the best of all possible worlds, for only a month. In August 2021, another hard blow: the left lung of Jean-Pierre Pernaut is in turn affected. Doctors detect a tumor, “bigger, 3.5cm“. There is no question of operating:”It would be too heavy for my health.“Then another solution is proposed. The 71-year-old journalist has been undergoing radiotherapy for several weeks. This does not prevent him from continuing his professional activities in parallel, like his weekly show on LCI Jean-Pierre & you. “We will see the results in 2022, he smiles. I’m not going to screw up on vacation, like this summer. There, I will spend family celebrations in the sun. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll do other stuff. You have to see life on the bright side.“
For her part, Nathalie Marquay is confident. Monday 22 November 2021, on the plateau of Do not touch My TV (C8), she took stock of her husband’s health. “Obviously I’m afraid, but I trust the doctors. There are extraordinary advances in medicine “, she said. And to mention radiotherapy: “With the spokes, at any time, there will be a shell that will crack. I’m afraid of pain, but we talk about it from time to time … Jean-Pierre has a crazy character, I’m proud of him.“In this painful ordeal, Jean-Pierre Pernaut is well surrounded, in particular by his wife and their two children Lou (18 years old) and Tom (17 years old).