'It was heartbreaking': Nick Cannon reveals why he said NO to chemo for 5-month-old son who died of cancer
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Nick Cannon has opened up about why he and Alyssa Scott didn't want their late son Zen to undergo chemotherapy while he was battling aggressive brain cancer. In an interview with Dr David Agus on 'The Check Up', Cannon talked about his son's cancer diagnosis, and explained that when he asked the doctors about the best treatment options for his son's condition, they said that chemotherapy is less likely to extend his son's life because of the tumor's location. The actor lost his 5 months old son to brain cancer on December 5, 2021.
“Seeing your son hooked up to all of those machines — and he had to go for a shunt two or three times, and that was heartbreaking every time — even in that short amount of time, I couldn’t imagine him having to go through chemo,” Cannon added. Given the short amount of time he had left, Cannon said he wanted to give Zen the "greatest existence" he could while prioritizing his "quality of life."
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How did Nick Cannon's son Zen die? Host revealed CRUSHING details of baby's final days
“I knew how as a full grown man, that process,” Cannon said, referring to using chemo for his lupus. “My hair was falling out. I wouldn’t even call it pain; it just sucked everything out of you. I couldn’t imagine that on a newborn and what that would do."
Zen would have had to "live in the hospital" and "would have never gone home" if he had had the procedure, according to 'The Masked Singer' host. “Luckily we did everything from the sunrise, going to the beach, the sunset, said some beautiful prayers as a family, and really came together as a family in a very beautiful way,” he recalled. “I’m grateful for that, but it was definitely tough. To see your child there, suffering at a point and watching things shut down, it was pretty intense.”
The 'Drumline' actor also lauded Scott, who is expecting their second child together and his 12th, at the moment. “I definitely couldn’t have did it without her,” he raved. “The fact that she was the one, from every aspect she handled it. We had some beautiful moments. We had the opportunity, we knew the transition was coming. It happened a lot faster than we thought.”
On December 5, 2022, Cannon paid tribute to Zen, one year after his death. “Physically I’m definitely on the mend but Mentally and Spiritually I’m broken,” he captioned a series of photos of his baby. “Such a painful anniversary. Losing a child has to be the heaviest, most dark and depressive experiences that I will never get over. A mixture of guilt, pain, and sorrow is what I suppress daily.”