“Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Dwight Eubanks recently revealed that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
In an exclusive interview with People, the celebrity hairstylist, 64, opened up about his diagnosis, sharing that he was diagnosed earlier this year and is dedicated about encouraging others to stay on top of their health.
Eubanks noted that his grandfather was diagnosed with the same disease and kept the news a secret from the family before dying from it. From that point on, Eubanks kept in mind the possibility of having the same disease and meeting a similar fate.
However, he was told that he wasn’t at a high risk of developing the same cancer due to the disease being on his mother’s side.
“So I’m thinking that I’m good,” he told People. “I was confident that I was Superman. I was cleared. I was going to be okay and I just never thought about it.” But in January, everything changed. After he had bloodwork done, his doctor called and told him to come in as soon as possible.
Even though he exhibited no alarming symptoms and felt healthy, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Then, a follow-up prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test in April confirmed the diagnosis.
“I was shocked. I was angry. I was just emotionally a wreck,” he revealed. “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.”
“We are exploring possibilities to see what route to go and we have not come up with that yet,” he continued. “I have a great team, about four different doctors: Two urologists, another specialist and my family physician. So, I’m comfortable and I’m forever grateful to have such a team and support. And we are going to figure it out.”
What further troubles Eubanks is learning 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 his cancer diagnosis, his doctors looked over past medical records and discovered that he had high PSA levels in 2022.
The findings were never brought to his attention at the time.
“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.”
Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer among men in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. About 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed during their lifetime. But Black and African American men are at a greater risk, as 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with it.
In fact, Black men are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer than white men.
As frustrated as Eubanks was about the possibility of detecting the cancer sooner, the reality star admitted, “I just have to laugh instead of crying about this whole journey.”