CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago native and former Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade revealed Thursday that he was diagnosed with cancer a little over a year ago and lost part of his kidney as a result. On his " The WY Network" podcast , Wade, 43, said post-retirement from the NBA, he was no longer getting regular physicals as he had in his playing days. But Wade's father had battled prostate cancer, so Wade said on the podcast that he decided go for a checkup and asked the doctor to investigate everything he was feeling and experiencing — in particular slow and weak urination.
"Because I did the full-body scan, they were able to see my entire body, my entire inside, and they were able to see something that was on my kidney — on my right kidney," Wade said on the podcast. Wade also found out he needed to have kidney surgery. He went in for the surgery on Dec.
18, 2023, and found out that the tumor was indeed cancerous. He was left with 40% of his right kidney after the surgery — and he said on the podcast that it was a challenge for him in many ways. "My own journey to have that surgery, I think it was the first time my family — my dad, my kids — they saw me weak," Wade said.
"That moment was probably the weakest one I've ever felt in my life." But he said he has been making a point of living differently and to the fullest ever since. Wade also emphasized the need for men in particular to check in and take time out for themselves with regard to health.
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