Tamra Judge’s ex-husband Simon Barney reveals stage 3 throat cancer diagnosis

Tamra Judge‘s ex-husband is battling stage 3 throat cancer, and they say the diagnosis has helped to mend their relationship.

Simon Barney, who was married to the “Real Housewives of Orange County” star for 13 years before their 2011 split, started an aggressive treatment plan of radiation and chemotherapy at the beginning of January, People reported.

“He told me the news [at a local Starbucks] and we both literally started crying. I just couldn’t believe it,” Judge, 52, told the publication through tears. “My first thought was, ‘I don’t want to take my kids to their dad’s funeral’ and immediately, any ill feelings between the two of us just vanished. At the end of the day, none of that matters. All we have to do is rally together to make it through this.”





The former couple share son Spencer, 19, and daughters Sidney, 21, and Sophia, 14. Sidney and Judge are estranged, while Spencer’s relationship with Barney was strained.

“It’s kind of like a new beginning for me and my family,” Barney told the outlet. “It’s really brought everyone closer together. When I told Tamra, she said she cried for like, two or three days. Things changed with our relationship from there, in a good way. We’re getting along in ways we haven’t in years. And she’s become close with my fiancée. And that shift carried across the board with my kids, too.”

Barney, 55, said both he and his fiancée of nine years, Catushia Ienni, have both wanted everyone to get along. “And they see that now, and it’s had such a powerful effect,” he said.





He first noticed symptoms, starting with swollen salivary glands, last May. His doctors thought he had an infection, but an ultrasound and biopsy confirmed that it was cancer. Doctors found that the cancer had spread into his throat, tonsils and lymph nodes.

Multiple opinions confirmed that surgery was not an option because the cancer was too spread out.

He said the treatment has been the worst part of his ordeal.

He said of his schedule: “You go in Monday, you get the chemo. By Friday, Saturday, Sunday, all the steroids are wearing off that they give you, and it really hits you. I just curl up in a ball for the whole weekend in my bed, and then pray that the truck gets off me. Because I was run over by one. Then they give you a shot that’s supposed to help your white blood cells multiply, and that hurts your bones, so you feel like you can’t walk. And then the radiation, basically they hit me in my neck, my throat, and the tonsil area. It’s like a 9 out of 10 pain. It’s a lot of pain.”





Barney remains optimistic about his future and said that “if you start believing, ‘Oh my God, cancer’s a death sentence’ — then you’re done.”

“I have hope,” he said. “Doctors have said I’m doing really well so far. They look at me and they go, ‘Man, you don’t look like you’re going through chemo.’ So that’s good, the prognosis is good.”





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