Positive update shared on Professor Oak voice actor's battle with cancer
Hang in there, James!
For 25 years, James Carter Cathcart provided the voice of Professor Oak in the Pokémon anime series, but that’s not all. Cathcart also lent his talents to Gary, along with Team Rocket’s James and Meowth. Without a doubt, Cathcart’s work was an integral piece of the Pokémon anime.
Sadly, back in April of this year, James Carter Cathcart announced that he was stepping away from voice acting duties altogether due to a battle with cancer. It’s was confirmed by Cathcart’s wife that the advanced cancer started in his tongue and spread into his neck. Soon after that reveal, James was receiving aggressive chemotherapy treatments to stop the cancer in its tracks.
Today brings us an update on Cathcart’s battle, and it’s a positive one. While James has had to endure a ton of treatment and struggles, it seems he’s starting to come out the other side of things. You can see the complete message from James’ wife on the matter below.
Although it took most of the 14 days of target IV antibiotics for some decisions to make themselves known — Jimmy stayed in-patient for the entire course of the IV antibiotic treatment. It was long and tiring…he was sometimes feeling up to engaging in PT and sometimes less so…
But finally, this past Thursday, Jimmy was discharged back to home. VNS came on Friday afternoon, and we anticipate home services of PT/OT/”Speech & Swallow” therapy/and some limited home health aide assistance as Jimmy transitions back to home. Jimmy is walking independently (no walker) in the apartment again, and slowly gaining strength & weight. . .
An appointment with the original “head/neck” surgeon is scheduled for mid-November, to begin discussing when & how to reverse (get rid of) Jimmy’s tracheostomy. We are hopeful that if Jimmy stays healthy in the next couple of weeks, there could be some forward movement toward the reversal — which would be a huge step in his recovery.
The next follow-up PET scan is Nov. 30th, and we are hoping that the radiation oncologist’s optimism is as well founded as he believes it to be!
Labwork, of course, is ongoing for preventive purposes re Jimmy’s liver function, new infections, hemoglobin levels (which, we’ve learned, often dip with cancer & treatment).
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