Dwyane Wade reveals he had cancerous tumor removed from his kidney: 'Weakest point I've ever felt in my life' - chof 360 news

Dwyane Wade underwent surgery to have a cancerous tumor removed from his right kidney over a year ago. Now he’s sharing his story publicly for the first time.

The 43-year-old retired NBA star opened up about a “traumatic” health scare during his inaugural Time Out men’s wellness retreat in October. A recording of the keynote conversation was released as an episode of his podcast, The Why With Dwyane Wade, on Thursday.

During his keynote, Wade revealed that his father’s journey with prostate cancer inspired him to take control of his own health. He thought himself to be “pretty healthy,” he said, considering his athletic background. But, as he noted to chof360 Life in 2023, he no longer had the luxury of routine checkups as an NBA player once he retired. Wade admitted in his speech that he went a few years without getting those physicals.

“I went in, and I was like, ‘Doc, I want to know everything about my body, head to toe,’” said Wade. He shared a few concerns with the doctor, like stomach cramps and a weak urine stream, which could be a sign of prostate cancer. Ultimately, he underwent a full-body scan, which allowed the doctor to identify something on Wade’s right kidney.

“What I had on my kidney was a cyst, a tumor,” he said, explaining that it couldn’t be biopsied unless it was surgically removed. “I just went for a physical pretty much to check on myself and now I’m in the [doctor’s office], and the doctor’s like, ‘So, you need to have kidney surgery.’”

Wade underwent surgery on Dec. 18, 2023. “Thank God that I did do [it],” he said, as the tumor turned out to be cancerous. He noted on Instagram on Thursday that it was identified as "stage 1 cancer." “They took 40% of my kidney to make sure that they could get all of the cancer off of it” so that it wouldn’t spread, he added. “So I have one kidney and I have another kidney that’s 60%.”

Speaking at the October retreat, the former Miami Heat star opened up about the mental health toll.

“I think it was the first time that my family — my dad, my kids — they saw me weak,” he shared. “That moment was probably the weakest point I’ve ever felt in my life. The moments that I was by myself, like I was struggling.”

He spoke fondly about seeing his family come together to support him and said that he made a promise to himself to “do things differently” if he came out of the surgery healthy. “I’ve been attacking life,” he said of his outlook since. “I’m not waiting.”

He has been attentive to his health since, communicating often with his doctor and returning for regular checkups. He’s also been particularly proactive when it comes to his heightened risk of prostate cancer, adding that it’s become a sort of bonding experience between him and his father.

“[For] my dad and I, life was kind of built around sports for a very long time,” he said. “We now talk about going to the doctor, talk about our prostate, all these things, 'cause we’re dealing with it at the same time.”