Dwyane Wade has revealed the two easily missable symptoms he spotted that led to his cancer diagnosis.
The retired NBA star, 43, has opened up about the changes in his body that he noticed prior to being diagnosed with kidney cancer.
Wade, whose father and grandfather had battled prostate cancer, decided to go to his doctor even though he felt 'pretty healthy' after suffering from stomach pains and noticing a slight change to how he urinated.
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"I talked about just having a slow stream, like sometimes when I would go to the bathroom, my urine would come out little slow," he told TODAY.
"I had some cramps, some pain, a little bit at times in my stomach that I did not understand. But I didn't think nothing of it. And so, once I finally went in, I was like, 'OK, I just want to know everything'.
"[The doctor] expressed to me that it was very early, but they thought they saw something on my kidneys. I didn't go in for my kidneys. I went in to check what was going on my stomach and my prostate."
Another scan was suggested, and his second MRI scan also showed a 1.1 inch sized mass on one of his kidneys, prompting doctors to consider surgery to remove the lesion to prevent it from spreading.
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After the surgery, his physician told him his cancer was Stage 1.
The five-year survival rate for Stage 1 kidney cancer is 93 per cent.
Wade, who has four children, revealed how panic began to set in after hearing he may have cancer and recalled battling with the decision to undergo surgery.
"Immediately they try to say, 'Well, we don't know if it's cancerous, but it's something on there, and you're a young man, and we just want to make sure that, you obviously are able to live this healthy lifestyle'," he added.
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"So now I'm processing the possibility of surgery on my kidneys. I've had it on my knees, I've had it on my shoulder, but it's something that feels a little realer when it's inside your body.
"[My doctor said] in the next five or 10 years, if this is cancer, [it can] not only spread through your kidneys, but it [can] also spread through your lungs and eventually to your brain. That's when I knew that was, like, really serious."
Doctors performed a partial nephrectomy, removing about 40 per cent of his kidney to ensure all the cancer was gone.
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The procedure involves the removal of part of the kidney where the tumor is, while sparing the remainder from damage or removal.
The three-time NBA champion felt relieved and grateful after having the surgery before the cancer could spread across his body.
Topics: NBA, Basketball
Nasir Jabbar