‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’ Outlines Major Health Changes Following Life-Altering Diagnosis

Dog The Bounty Hunter star Duane “Dog” Chapman will have to make some major changes to his lifestyle following his health scare last month. The 66-year-old said he is determined to quit smoking, especially after his interview with Mahmet Oz on The Dr. Oz Show. Chapman was rushed to the hospital last month and diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism in the heart.

“Dr. Oz kind of freaked me out about the smoking,” Chapman told Entertainment Tonight on Sept. 30. “I am more cautious. But I don’t worry about dying.”

Oz introduced Chapman to a “professional interventionist in smoking. He started using Chantix, a prescription medication used to help adults quit smoking. Chapman said he was surprised the medication cost $600. The WGN America star said he is also using a nicotine patch.

“None of my children smoke,” Chapman explained to ET. “So they all encourage me to quit smoking. But I haven’t told my children what’s going on. I don’t want them to worry. It’s not any of their business [and] I have not told them what’s really going on.”

Chapman was rushed to the hospital in September after he experienced tightness in his chest while working out at home. He thought just drinking cold water would help, but it only made him feel worse. At the hospital, doctors found he had a blood clot.

“Eight minutes after I had the test on the heart, she took me into the room where they check blood clots and then said that on my lung I have a huge blood clot,” Chapman explained to ET. “The reason for the blood clot was thick blood. The next step is blood thinners — 98 percent of blood thinners work on the blood clot.”

Chapman’s interview with ET was not the first time he said he was changing his lifestyle. He previously told PEOPLE he was trying to quit smoking and have a healthier diet.

“Once this goes away, I am 100 percent,” he told PEOPLE last month. “I’ve had fears. The blood clot is not a normal thing but it happens a lot, but I’m going to be 100 percent. I’m encouraged by it.”

A source close to Chapman told TMZ his top priority was cutting back on cigarettes. The source said Chapman was eating “a ton of junk food,” but he wants to stop that as well.

Chapman’s health issues come just a few months after the death of his wife, Beth Chapman. Beth died in June at age 51 following a battle with throat and lung cancer. Her death left Chapman devastated, but he is trying to be there for his children by bettering his health.

“I have a homemade gym here, so I exercise a full body [workout] daily,” he told ET. “And, I drink a lot of water while I exercise. I take no supplements. I tighten up all the muscles and I feel much better every single day after I work out.”

Dog’s Most Wanted airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on WGN America.

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