The Real Housewives of Atlanta friend of the show, Dwight Eubanks, shares his prostate cancer diagnosis and his frustration that it wasn't caught sooner...
From People
Real Housewives of Atlanta star Dwight Eubanks reveals that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The celebrity hairstylist, 64, opened up to PEOPLE exclusively about being diagnosed earlier this year and why he’s so adamant about encouraging others to stay on top of their health.
Nearly 30 years ago, Eubanks’ grandfather was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He kept his diagnosis a secret from family before later dying from the disease. From that point, Eubanks was very conscious about the possibility of having a similar fate. However, he says he was told that because the family history of prostate cancer came from his mother’s side, there wasn’t a high risk of him getting a diagnosis himself.
“So I'm thinking that I'm good,” he tells PEOPLE. “I was confident that I was Superman. I was cleared. I was going to be okay and I just never thought about it.”
In January, Eubanks’ church was hosting a health fair and he decided to get bloodwork done. A week later, his doctor called and told him to come in as soon as possible. Despite feeling healthy and having no alarming symptoms, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. A follow-up prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test in April confirmed the diagnosis.
“I was shocked. I was angry,” he recalls. “I was just emotionally a wreck.”
“When you hear the word cancer, you freak out. I'm human. Society has told us that cancer was just devastating and, you know, you just have days to live. So of course I freaked out and I think I'm still freaked out.”
While Eubanks was grappling with his diagnosis, he also learned that his cancer could’ve been caught earlier.
As someone living with HIV since the 80s, the TV personality has had routine checkups with his doctor every six months. After getting diagnosed with prostate cancer, his doctors reviewed past medical records and noticed that in 2022, he had high PSA levels that weren’t brought up.
“I was like, are you kidding me? This was back in 2022 and nobody said anything to me. He just said, ‘You're undetectable, so you are fine.’ Never said anything about my prostate. I guess they just weren’t looking at that.”
As frustrated as he was about the possibility of getting a diagnosis sooner, Eubanks admits, “I just have to laugh instead of crying about this whole journey.”
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