Former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Nene Leakes just shared that her husband, Gregg, had been hospitalized for a week due to his prostate cancer returning. It was an unexpected blow the couple is taking on his colon cancer just a few years ago
““Gregg is so so. He’s in the hospital,” she said. “He’s been in the hospital, tomorrow will be a week. I haven’t really talked about that. This is the first time I’m saying something about it. I’m sure he’ll be home in about a week or so. He had to have a surgery. So his cancer did return,” Nene shared on TheJasmineBrand.com Instagram Live interview.
The 66-year-old reality star — who was previously diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer — is back in the hospital, recovering after undergoing surgery.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum, 53, went on to tell the outlet that this is the first time she’s disclosed the information of Gregg’s condition.
“It’s difficult,” she said, adding that Gregg was “different.”
“He’s super small,” she said. “If you’ve ever been around somebody who’s had cancer before, he’s different. He’s different.”
In 2019, NeNe and Gregg thought that their cancer story was done when they found out he was cancer free
Gregg had completed six months of chemotherapy to battle his stage three colon cancer.
NeNe and Gregg tied the knot in 1997 and separated in 2010. Their divorce was finalized in 2011, but the duo later reconciled and remarried in 2013. Their second wedding was featured on a RHOA spinoff titled I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding.
Back in June of 2018, NeNe had canceled her remaining one-woman comedy shows because Gregg had been in the hospital for more than two weeks.
During a reunion special in April 2019, NeNe admitted that she was considering a second divorce from Gregg due to his attitude towards her while going through chemotherapy.
Gregg later publicly apologized to NeNe, writing on Instagram, “We always hurt the ones we love… because they allow us to hurt them rather than snap back.”
“I’m tired of hurting my wife who is only trying to take good care of me and wants only the best for me too. She deserves much more for her hard efforts and tireless hours spent on me,” he said. “I pray to God to get it together… she’s done NO wrong… this is ALL on me.”
“Cancer will change your life,” he said.
Each year, about 140,000 Americans are diagnosed with colon cancer, and more than 50,000 die from it. That’s bad news, but for African-Americans, it’s even worse.
“African-Americans are more likely to get colon cancer, they’re more likely to have an advanced stage of disease when they’re diagnosed with colon cancer, they’re more likely to die from colon cancer and they have shorter survival after diagnosis with colon cancer,” said Dr. Fola May, assistant professor of medicine at UCLA and a researcher at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Not only do African Americans have the shortest survival rate of any racial or ethnic group in the United States for most cancers, but they also have the highest incidence of colorectal cancer. Nearly 20,000 new cases of colorectal cancer were expected in the United States among African Americans in 2019, with incidence rates 24 percent higher in black men and 19 percent higher in black women compared to other races, according to the American Cancer Society. Black colorectal cancer patients are also 15 to 20 percent more likely to die from the disease than patients of any other race.
Symptoms may include a change in bowel habits such as diarrhea or constipation, rectal bleeding with bright red blood, blood in the stool making it look dark, cramps or abdominal pain, and feeling like the bowel isn’t emptying completely with a bowel movement.
We join fans of the show and celebrity friends alike in showing support for the couple and wishing Gregg a full and complete recovery–cancer free.