Dwyane Wade reveals cancer diagnosis in emotional health update

Dwyane Wade revealed he had a cancerous tumor removed from his kidney in a shocking health update from the NBA superstar.

The 43-year-old opened up about his health battle on The WY Network podcast on Thursday, where he discussed how the news impacted him and his blended family with Gabrielle Union. 

Dwyane shared that he had been experiencing stomach problems, trouble with urination, and intense cramps, and after his father’s battle with prostate cancer, made the decision to see a doctor. 

According to Dwyane, his doctor revealed that he had a tumor on his right kidney, bringing his whole world to a standstill. 

“I didn’t go in for my kidney, and so what I had on my kidney was a tumor,” he explained on the podcast. “It was [something] that could be biopsied, that they could surgically remove.”

“I had a personal decision to make, and what it was was, ‘If this is cancerous, if this tumor, this cyst is cancerous, on your kidney, you’re 41 years old, you probably need surgery because it’s something that needs to be removed so it doesn’t spread,‘” he added. 

After receiving multiple opinions from other doctors, he underwent surgery to remove the tumor in December 2023 with his family by his side. 

“My own journey to have that surgery, 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.”

He continued: “As a man, you never want your family to see you weak…[you] don’t want to be seen in your weakest moments, but I had to.“

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Dwyane shares a beautiful blended family with Gabrielle, whom he married in 2014 after four years of dating. 

Together, they welcomed their daughter Kaavia James in 2018; he shares kids Zaire, 22, and Zaya, 17, with his ex-wife Siovaughn Funches, and son Xavier, 11, with Aja Metoyer. Dwyane is also the legal guardian of his 21-year-old nephew, Dahveon Morris. 

The Miami Heat star shared that the diagnosis surprised him due to his young age and healthy lifestyle. “Obviously, at 41 years old, [I was a] pretty healthy guy that did have cancer. Thank God that I did do the surgery because the tumor was cancerous.“ 

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“So, I have one kidney, and I have another kidney that is [at] 60 percent,“ he explained. “They took 40 percent of my kidney to make sure they can get all the cancer off it.“

The father of four learned a powerful lesson about family after coming out on the other side, and vowed to change his life going forward.

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“What I saw in the midst of me going through my illness, I saw my family that may not always talk, may not always agree. I saw everybody show up for me and be there for me, and in that process, in my weakness, I found strength in my family,“ he shared. 

“I came out of that, and I’ve been doing things differently, and I’ve been attacking life that way. I’m not waiting.”