Paul Hogan, 83, opened up about his deteriorating health after being diagnosed with the inflammatory condition retroperitoneal fibrosis.
The frail-looking actor told Sunrise hosts Natalie Barr and David Koch that he is regaining his vigor after dealing with muscle loss and drastic weight loss.
“I had a kidney complaint, and the treatment was worse than the ailment, and it sort of shriveled me,” he said in an interview.
“But I’ve regained my strength,” he said.
“I can eat whatever I want, and I can’t put it back on,” Hogan continued, “but I’m strong again.” In addition, he claims to have “zero body fat.”
After his crippling illness wrecked his health and rendered him unable to perform simple tasks independently, Hogan recently admitted that he wishes to spend the rest of his life in Australia.
He admitted to A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw that the negative impact on his health has made him want to leave Los Angeles and return to the relative peace of his home country.
He stated that he had suffered from muscle atrophy and severe weight loss after being diagnosed with retroperitoneal fibrosis, a rare disease that causes inflammation and significant scar tissue in the abdominal cavity.
A benign tumor had encircled his abdominal aorta and compressed a kidney.
“I suppose I’ve improved. I had an issue with my kidney’s aorta, and the procedure cured it, but it made me smaller,’ he claimed.
‘I just… Because it made me weak, I lost all my body fat, my muscles shriveled, and my strength never returned. I ask Chance to assist me in opening jars.”
“Many diet-conscious friends despise me because I eat anything greasy you can think of,” he went on. “Everything they are not allowed to have. I’m not gaining any weight.”
The actor had a benign growth that required corticosteroids to shrink, but he now needs to rebuild his strength after the health issue changed the shape of his body significantly.
Hogan claimed that the illness was more severe than the steroid treatment.
“They reduce your muscles and are intended to make you fat,” says Hogan, “but I became thinner and thinner and thinner.”
I’m trying to gain weight because having little body fat makes you feel the cold too much.
Hogan is currently fitted with a pacemaker and claims to be “held together by the string” as he works to regain his health.
The Golden Globe winner acknowledged his good fortune in remaining healthy for so long, claiming that he “kept” his fitness up until 79.
