‘Traumatic’: Gabrielle Union opens up about husband Dwyane Wade’s cancer diagnosis
More than a year after Dwyane Wade’s surgery for kidney cancer, his wife Gabrielle Union is opening up about the ordeal.
The actress appeared on “TODAY with Jenna & Friends” on Wednesday, explaining that the experience was “traumatic” for the entire family.
Wade, 43, dropped the bombshell on a Jan. 30 episode of his podcast, “The Why,” adding that doctors removed 40 percent of his right kidney in December 2023.
The retired Miami Heat star explained that before his diagnosis he’d been having symptoms such as stomach cramps and a weak urine stream. A mass was found on a total body scan and Wade was told he needed an operation to see if it was malignant, and it was.
“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 on the show. “That moment was probably the weakest point I’ve ever felt in my life.”
Union, 52, shared an Instagram Story after the podcast, writing,” Scary scary time for D and our family. I’m glad he was able to tell his story in HIS time in his own way. And NEVER weak. Ever.”
In the new interview, she confirmed that the medical crisis was challenging for him to accept as someone in the prime of his life.
“Being faced with your own mortality in your early 40s, and you’re like, ‘Am I going to be here to see my family? Who am I without this big life, and without this healthy body?”
Union, who married the baller in an over the top ceremony at Chateau Artisan in Homestead in August 2014, admitted the bout with cancer also took a toll on their relationship.
“It was year nine of our marriage and ... year nine was very hard,” she said.
Fortunately, the couple, who have a 6-year-old daughter Kaavia James, not only survived, but thrived.
For Valentine’s Day, the “Being Mary Jane” star posted a montage of snaps of her “homie/lover/friend/occasional spades partner.”
“Love,” said the caption, “is eternal.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 4:08 PM.
