Former basketball player Jason Collins (47), who during his thirteen-year career played almost 800 games for six American NBA teams, said that he is currently fighting a serious brain tumor. In a recent interview, he noted that he was diagnosed with stage four glioma.
- Former NBA player Jason Collins has announced that he is battling an aggressive brain tumor.
- He was diagnosed with stage four glioma, one of the most severe types of brain cancer.
- The tumor is inoperable, it can only be treated with the help of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Collins, who became the first active player in one of the major North American sports leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL) to publicly admit that he is gay, spoke about his serious diagnosis in a candid interview with ESPN. “A few months ago, my family released a brief statement that I had a brain tumor. It was brief but deliberately vague. They did this to protect my privacy at a time when I couldn’t speak for myself and loved ones were trying to understand what we were facing“, he revealed.
The former professional NBA player added that he now knows the severity of his illness. “I have stage four glioma, one of the most aggressive types of brain cancer. Everything happened incredibly quickly. I was diagnosed in August, just as my husband and I were planning to fly to the US Open. That’s when the first worrying symptoms appeared,” he emphasized.
Collins soon underwent a CT scan, which revealed that his condition was indeed serious. “After five minutes, the technician pulled me aside and said they would send me to a specialist. I knew CTs usually take longer, so whatever he saw on those first few scans had to be bad“, he specified.
The diagnosis ended up being much worse than he expected. “My glioma is exceptional in every way. I was found to be ‘wild type’ which means it has all the mutations that make it even more deadly and harder to treat. It’s like the mythical Hydra creature, when you cut off one head, two more grow back. That’s my disease,” said Collins.
The scary news is that the former basketball player’s tumor is inoperable. The only treatment options are standard radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Doctors estimate his prognosis at 11 to 14 months. Nevertheless, she tries to face her illness with her head held high. “If this is all the time I have left, I want to spend it fighting. Maybe one day there will be a new standard of treatment available to everyone,” he concluded.
This article comes from the Ringier publishing partner website. The content and data contained in it were taken without editorial intervention.
