Gabrielle Union breaks her silence on husband Dwyane Wade’s ‘traumatic’ cancer diagnosis

Gabrielle Union opened up for the first time about the toll Dwyane Wade’s cancer diagnosis took on him, on her and on their family. 

‘Obviously, him getting that diagnosis was traumatic for him, you know, being faced with your own mortality in your early 40s,’ Union, 52, said on Today with Jenna and Friends.

‘You’re like, “Am I going to be here to see my family? Who am I without this big life? Without this healthy body?”‘

The 43-year-old former NBA player had surgery in December 2023 to remove a cancerous tumor on his kidney that led to doctors removing 40 percent of his kidney.

‘But you also don’t understand the journey and the toll it takes on your marriage, on your family, on your kids,’ Union recalled on Wednesday.

The Bring It On actress noted that the experience made Wade ‘a little more hesitant’ to let his loved ones in on his ‘journey of healing.’ 

Wade shares children Zaire, 22, and Zaya, 17, with ex-wife Siovaughn Funches, son Xavier, 10, with ex Aja Metoyer and daughter Kaavia, 6, with Union.

‘That level of vulnerability, to go through removal of a good chunk of his kidney and the healing that involved, he needed us to be OK with his vulnerability,’ Union explained to host Jenna Bush Hager.

‘But more than that, he needed to be OK with his vulnerability. It was a challenge to give grace and receive it.’

Wade mentioned on his podcast last month that it was the first time any of his kids had seen him ‘weak.’

‘That moment was probably the weakest point I’ve ever felt in my life,’ Wade said at the time. 

‘The moments I was by myself, I was struggling. One thing you never want to do as a man … is [for] your family to see you weak. It’s tough.’

Dwyane explained that a routine checkup that he went in for when he was experiencing stomach discomfort and a weaker urine stream, resulted in doctors discovering a tumor on his right kidney. 

‘On the process of checking, like, “Why is my p*** coming out slow, why is my stream ain’t powerful? Why is it a little weak?’, Wade explained.

He then revealed that a full-body scan found a ‘cyst/tumor’ on one of his kidneys and doctors told him he needed surgery. 

He said: ‘I didn’t go in for my kidneys, but because I did the full-body scan, they saw something.’ 

Dwyane explained that he hadn’t been keeping up with regular medical exams since he retired from the NBA in 2019.

Talking about his decision to undergo surgery, Wade said: ‘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 also added that he opted for the full-body exam after seeing his father undergo surgery.

When doctors found the tumor, Dwyane said the mass couldn’t be biopsied. To confirm any cancer, the star said he required surgery, which he underwent in December 2023.

He added: ‘Thank God that I did do the surgery, right? Because the tumor was cancerous.’

When Wade woke up from surgery, Gabrielle and his father were there. The former athlete admitted he was ‘fortunate’ to have his family there to support and encourage him.

‘I saw everybody show up for me and be there for me,’ Wade shared. 

‘In that process of my weakness, I found strength in my family, in my friends, in my group. I came out of that and I’ve been doing things differently and I’ve been attacking life that way. I’m not waiting.’

Gabrielle and Dwyane have been married since 2014. 

The couple tied the knot at Chateau Artisan in Miami, Florida after a short eight-month engagement.