Jim Ross says he has lost more than 50 pounds and is being seen by home health care nurses twice a week as he continues to recover from a hospital stay of more than a month this summer.
Ross gave the update on this week’s Grilling JR after attending Oklahoma’s home game against UTEP on Saturday, his first Sooners game in years. Ross was hospitalized in Norman, Oklahoma, for more than 30 days in May and June following a fall at his home, and said in July that he was scheduled for brain surgery.
Asked how much weight he has lost from his heaviest, Ross said: “Over 50 pounds.”
“I have home health care nurses that come to my home twice a week, and they look me over and take my vitals, blood sugar, blood pressure, and I still have issues,” Ross said. “The wound on my left ankle from skin cancer and 22 radiation treatments has not healed. So they dress that twice a week. It’s looking better, but it’s not healed.”
Ross was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2021 and went through radiation treatment on his leg. The wound has been a recurring issue since, including emergency room visits in 2023 to monitor it.
He said blood sugar is his main focus. “I have cravings sometimes for sugar. I like pie, I like cake, I like cake and ice cream, like a little child, and I get pissed at myself sometimes because of my urges. So I’ve been really watching my blood sugar, and I’m going to continue to do that because that’s a dangerous thing to mess with.”
Ross said he now tries to finish eating before 6 p.m. and is working on portion control. “My life is getting more structured under the new circumstances of my health.”
Two broken toes on his left foot are limiting his physical therapy. “I can’t do as much physical therapy as far as walking or moving on my feet because of my broken toes. When they’re healed, and they’re healing slowly, I’ll be right back in the saddle, no doubt about it.”
He said the toes are also affecting his balance. “I sit here at home and I tell myself that I’m a lot better, and I am a lot better. If my two toes on my left foot weren’t broken, my balance would be adversely affected as it is right now. I still got to be careful when I walk and to not fall. Falling is JR’s enemy.”
Ross has had several falls in the past two years, including one before AEW Double or Nothing in May that caused him to miss a flight, and another after the event that led to the hospital stay. He was also evaluated for dementia and Alzheimer’s during that period and said at the time he was going through tests.
Ross said the Oklahoma game was a highlight. He watched from a friend’s suite, met the school’s new athletic director and his sons, and saw Brian Bosworth. He said the athletic director had given him a backpack while he was in the hospital. He also said he has lost enough weight to wear his WWE Hall of Fame ring again.
Elsewhere on the show, Ross and Conrad Thompson discussed the deaths of Bill Dundee and Andy “The Butcher” Williams, Bayley’s return on Raw, Bret Hart’s recent comments on non-wrestlers as bookers, which Ross disagreed with, and MJF’s remarks about veterans in the locker room, which Ross said he could not disagree with, calling wrestling “a con man’s business.” He also recalled his own on-screen firings in 2003 and how they mirrored Vince McMahon’s real search for a replacement lead announcer.
We wish Jim Ross a full recovery.
