"Tom gave various medical treatments more than a fair shot,"
said Slayer's manager Rick Sales, "but they just haven't handled
the problem, so he's biting the bullet and is scheduled for back
surgery at the end of this month."
This difficult decision made by the band's bassist/vocalist Tom
Araya means the cancellation of Slayer's immediate tour plans that
include the American and Canadian Carnage Tour dates that were set
to kick off on January 18, as well as the band's UK/European
headline tour scheduled for March and April. Booking agents for
both Slayer and Megadeth are already hard at work rescheduling the
tour dates; tickets already purchased for these shows will be
honored at the rescheduled dates.
Araya began experiencing back problems while on the band's
Australian/New Zealand/Japanese tour last October. In spite of his
rapidly increasing pain and discomfort, he carried on with the
tour, but immediately upon returning home saw an orthopedic
specialist who diagnosed a Cervical Radiculopathy. Araya initially
did not want to take the major surgery route, so the specialist
recommended a series of minimally-invasive procedures. While those
procedures have resulted in some improvement, Araya continues tont
bouts of severe pain, numbness and muscle spasms. The surgical
procedure that Araya will undergo, called an Anterior Cervical
Discectomy with Fusion, is a relatively routine practice and the
recovery rate is excellent.
Sales added, "As unfortunate as this is for so many people - the
Megadeth and Testament camps, the concerts' promoters, and, of
course, the fans - Tom's health is the number one priority, and
this has to happen."