Broadcaster Gay Byrne is going through a "difficult stage" in his cancer treatment, according to his wife Kathleen Watkins.
Mr Byrne (83) was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year and has been receiving treatment in the form of chemotherapy pills, sometimes up to 13 a day.
Ms Watkins said that doctors have now moved him on to intravenous chemotherapy which she said is taking its toll on the broadcaster.
“He is going through a difficult stage at the moment. He had been on chemotherapy pills up to now, from Christmas. Then they decided he needed chemo drip treatment . . . we’re going to have that every two weeks up until January,” she told The Ray D’Arcy Show on Saturday night.
Ms Watkins was on the show to discuss her poetry and her children's book, Pigin of Howth.
Last November Mr Byrne told listeners to his show on RTÉ Lyric FM that he would be taking time off for treatment. He has been a mainstay on RTÉ television and radio for over five decades, most notably as the host of The Late Late Show for 37 years.
Asked if Mr Byrne misses broadcasting, Ms Watkins said: “Not really, I think if you’re not well, you’re not well.
“And the weather has been so wonderful we’ve been able to get out walking. We walk every day. We’re always walking, always out. That takes a chunk out of the day, and it’s hugely enjoyable. You feel the better for it.”
She outlined how the medication is affecting her husband’s moods: “It really drags them down; they feel up and down, hot and cold all kinds of different symptoms.
Ms Watkins joked to Ray Darcy that Mr Byrne looks a bit like him “because he’s lost all his hair.
“All the Byrnes have lovely grey hair. I’m told it will come back. Maybe in January.”
