Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman‘s wife, Beth Chapman, recently underwent surgery to have a plum-sized tumor removed from her neck, Us Weekly confirms.
As first reported by The Blast, surgeons cut the 49-year-old reality star’s neck from ear-to-ear to remove the cancerous growth during a 12-hour procedure in Los Angeles over the weekend. A source tells Us that Beth had been readmitted to the hospital to have the tumor removed just days after being released.
Beth announced earlier this month that she had been diagnosed with stage II throat cancer. “As most of you know I’ve spent a lifetime facing tests and challenges I didn’t see coming and certainly never expected,” she wrote in a letter to friends. “I’ve been dealt my share of unexpected blows over the course of my almost fifty years but nothing as serious as the one I heard from my doctors two weeks ago when they uttered those dreaded three words, ‘You have cancer.'”
Prior to her diagnosis, the Colorado native battled a “nagging cough” for months, she wrote. “To be certain, I’ve stared down the devil more than once in my life but I’ve never faced a real life or death decision. My life has never been easy, and I surely don’t expect it to start now. Still, I’ve never been a victim and I won’t let cancer beat me. I realize the road I am about to travel will be rocky, full of unexpected twists and turns. But I know one thing for sure. A bend in the road is not the end of the road.”
Beth wrote at the time that she would not know her prognosis until after undergoing surgery. For now, she’s leaning on her family for support. “I will fight every step of the way. My husband and children are counting on me to be there for years to come,” Beth wrote. “I am so very grateful to be surrounded by family and friends who have given me incredible support during this very challenging time.”
