Comedian Moshe Kasher, who plays an ASL interpreter on the television hospital drama series “The Pitt,” shared his own sobering medical condition in a social media post.
Kasher, 47, wrote in a Sunday post on Instagram that he found “a bump on my tonsil” while filming "The Comeback King" three months ago in Savannah, Georgia.
Kasher was diagnosed with tonsil cancer that was caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), USA Today reported.
The cancer was caught early and is classified as a Stage 1 condition, according to the newspaper.
The actor said he underwent a five-hour surgery on June 19 that “yanked my jaw open.” Doctors removed cancerous areas and then “slit my throat and dissected my neck.”
Kasher added in his Instagram post that the surgery left him with “a hardcore neck scar which will make people reluctant to street fight me,” along with a “swollen and bruised mouth.”
The actor, who wrote the 2024 book “Subculture Vulture: A Memoir in Six Scenes,” called the diagnosis and surgery “the most terrifying and consciousness-consuming experience of my life.”
“My life has been terror, meditation, tears, and medical planning (oh and 12-hour days on set pitching jokes),” he wrote. “I’m in pain and I’m in the middle of a very difficult process. It’s gonna be a long summer.
“But the good news is the cancer I have has an incredibly high cure rate (in the 95% zone). I will find out next week if I need radiation or not but regardless I will be OK and back to being a cool dude ASAP.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States.
Kasher said he is unsure when he will return to acting. He and his wife, fellow comedian Natasha Leggero, recorded an episode of their podcast “The Endless Honeymoon” before Kasher’s surgery.
“We literally pressed stop and drove to the hospital,” Kasher wrote on Instagram. “So if you want to hear exactly what I sound like when I don’t know if I will be alive the next day, give it a listen.
“I can’t wait to get back to work. But for now -- I breathe. I walk. I eat. I survive. I live.”
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