Jim Ross has received encouraging news regarding the mass discovered on his kidney, although the legendary wrestling commentator continues to deal with significant health issues while recovering from recent brain surgery.
Ross returned to Grilling JR for the first time since undergoing surgery to have a shunt fitted in his brain. The 74-year-old provided an extensive update on his recovery, including the latest findings regarding his kidney and the severe headaches he has experienced since the procedure.
Despite everything he has been through, Ross said he is continuing to make progress. “I’m doing pretty good, doing pretty good. Slowly but surely, but I’m just fighting through it.”
Ross attended an oncology appointment on Wednesday after doctors discovered a mass on his kidney. While further testing is still required, he said his oncologist currently believes the mass is unlikely to be cancerous. “I had my oncology appointment because I saw a mass on my kidney, and I got good news on that. The oncologist thinks I don’t have any cancer, but they’re not sure. There’s a lump there. It may be cancerous, but it’s so small they can operate on it and eliminate it.”
After recently spending eight days in the hospital, Ross admitted that the possibility of another operation is something he hopes to avoid. “The last thing I want to do is get cancer surgery, and then go back to the friggin’ hospital for a few days. This last stay was eight days. So I got good news on that. So I’m blessed there and thankful.”
Ross also revealed the uncertainty surrounding the oncology appointment made it difficult for him to sleep the previous night. “I didn’t sleep very good Wednesday night, because I didn’t know I was going to get a verdict of, well, JR, here’s a story. And thank God that wasn’t the case.”
Additional testing and another MRI are planned before doctors can provide a more definitive assessment.
Meanwhile, Ross continues to recover from surgery to have a brain shunt fitted. He explained that the procedure involved placing a tube designed to drain excess fluid from his brain into his stomach. “They drill a hole in. They put a tube in from your brain down to my stomach, so all that excess fluid could drain there and make things better.”
Ross underwent the procedure a week earlier but said he has yet to notice a substantial improvement. His brain surgeon has encouraged him to be patient with the recovery process. “I haven’t noticed a lot of improvement since I had the surgery a week ago Wednesday, but my brain surgeon says I’m too impatient. He said, boy, you got a thick skull. You’re hard headed.”
The most difficult part of the recovery so far has been persistent headaches. Ross explained that concerns surrounding his kidney have also limited the strength of the pain medication doctors have been able to prescribe. “The wound is one thing, but working on my brain is another, and the headaches are prominent and bad. Because my kidneys were questioned, they couldn’t give me very powerful pain medicine, so I’m kind of suffering through that.”
Even sleeping has become difficult because placing his head in the wrong position can immediately wake him. “When I go to bed at night, if I roll the wrong way on my head on my pillow, it wakes me up. That’s not fun. Rest is the thing I need the most right now.”
Ross also revealed that he has fallen twice during his recovery, including an incident in his bedroom two nights before recording the podcast. “I fell in my bedroom, and I fell into my bench. When I fell, I broke the son of a b*** and crashed and burned. I heard some cracking. I thought, oh my god, I’ve broken some ribs, but it was the bench that broke.”*
Fortunately, Ross did not suffer the broken ribs he initially feared. However, he acknowledged that maintaining his balance remains an issue and said he has to be particularly careful when changing direction. “Falling is s**, man. If I take my time and don’t get in any big hurry, especially when I change direction, I do pretty good. If I don’t take my time, I go right back to that walker, and using a walker in your own home is humbling.”*
The damaged bench carried particular emotional significance for Ross because it belonged to his late wife, Jan. His handyman was able to repair it. “I didn’t want to get rid of it, out of sentimental value.”
Despite the difficult recovery, Ross remains determined to get healthy and return to work. “I’m old, but I ain’t dead.”
The WWE Hall of Famer made it clear that he still has the desire to call professional wrestling and is frustrated only by the speed of his recovery. “So I’m healing, just not as fast as I’d like, but I am healing. I’m anxious to get this stuff behind me and get back to doing some work. I miss calling matches.”
Ross has served as a senior commentator for AEW since the promotion launched in 2019. He previously revealed that his current AEW contract expires this month and said he does not know whether it will be renewed. Ross has stressed that he does not want his commentary career to be over, although he would accept the company’s decision.
His most recent commentary appearance came at AEW Double or Nothing in May. Ross was also at WrestleCon in Minneapolis during SummerSlam weekend alongside Conrad Thompson, where he participated in an autograph signing that he said attracted lengthy lines.
For now, Ross’ priority remains his recovery. While further testing is still needed regarding the kidney mass, the initial assessment from his oncologist has provided some welcome positive news as he continues healing from brain surgery.
