'Seinfeld' star Michael Richards reveals cancer diagnosis

Michael Richards, the man who played Cosmo Kramer on the Seinfeld television series, has revealed a serious cancer battle that he had in recent years.  

Richards made the revelation during an interview with People magazine.

The 74-year-old participated in the interview to promote his upcoming memoir Entrances and Exits. In the book, he is said to go into more detail about the cancer diagnosis.

He told people that he first received the diagnosis of stage one prostate cancer during the summer of 2018.

The details

Following a routine checkup with his doctor, it was discovered that Richards had elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels.

The Mayo Clinic explains:

The PSA test is a blood test used primarily to screen for prostate cancer. The test measures the amount of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in your blood. PSA is a protein produced by both cancerous and noncancerous tissue in the prostate, a small gland that sits below the bladder in males . . . The PSA test can detect high levels of PSA that may indicate the presence of prostate cancer.

In Richards' case, the elevated PSA levels were caused by cancer. The actor revealed to People that he thought that his time had come - that his life was coming to an end.

"I thought, 'Well, this is my time. I'm ready to go,'" he said.

Then, however, he changed his mind when he thought about his 9-year-old son and wanting to be there for him as he grew up. So, Richards says that he started thinking about whether there is "any way" he could "get a little more life going."

There was

According to Richards, a biopsy showed that the situation with his prostate was pretty serious, so serious that the doctor recommended surgery to remove the entire prostate in order to stop the cancer from spreading to other parts of his body.

This is indeed what happened, and, apparently, the surgery was a success.

"It had to be contained quickly. I had to go for the full surgery. If I hadn't, I probably would have been dead in about eight months," Richards said.

Now, it appears that Richards is doing relatively well for his age, and he has decided to look back on his life and to write a memoir.

"I had over 40 journals I’d kept over the years and wanted to do a full review of my life. I’m turning 75, so maybe wanting to do that is something that comes with being my age. I wanted to connect with feelings and memory. I’m surprised at how much I was able to remember," Richards said.