Dwyane Wade, a retired National Basketball Association (NBA) star, recently announced that he had 40% of one of his kidneys removed after doctors discovered a tumor that was later determined to be cancerous.
During a podcast episode of “The Why with Dwyane Wade” on Thursday, the 43-year-old NBA star revealed that he had surgery in December of 2023 after doctors discovered a tumor while examining him for stomach and urination issues. Wade told Bob Metelus, his podcast co-host, that his doctor found an issue that was affecting his right kidney.
Wade explained that the doctor discovered a tumor; however, it “was not nothing that could be biopsied, it was not nothing they could test until they went in and surgically removed it.” Since the tumor could not be biopsied, the doctors informed the former NBA star that he would “need to have kidney surgery.”
“At that moment right there I mean obviously I have a decision to make,” Wade told Metelus.
During Thursday’s podcast episode, Wade noted that he sought the opinion of “multiple doctors” before making his final decision; however, he ultimately decided to have the surgery, which he said was a good thing because the doctors later determined that the tumor was cancerous.
“So I have one kidney, I have another kidney that is 60%. They took 40% of my kidney,” Wade said.
During the podcast episode, Wade also shared how difficult it was for him to allow his family to see him as “weak.”
“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,” Wade said. “That moment was probably the weakest point I’ve ever felt in my life. The moment I was by myself, I was struggling, dog. I was struggling.”
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While Wade said men never want their family members to see them weak and never want to have their “weakest moments” exposed, the NBA star admitted, “I found strength in my family, in my friends, in my group.”
Wade also shared that he promised to make changes to his life prior to his kidney surgery in 2023.
“If the Lord bring me out of this, I’m gonna do things differently,” Wade said. “I came out of that and I’ve been doing things differently.”