CHARLOTTE — At just 37, Darryl Bigelow never imagined the words, “cancer survivor,” being attached to his name.
“I would never think about having cancer,” he told Channel 9’s Damany Lewis. “It really changed my life, it took me through a roller coaster of ups and downs.”
Two years ago, Bigelow was at the Essence Festival in New Orleans promoting his health lifestyle company, A Walking Vibe.
“We host health and wellness events for community organizations, collegiate schools, and we host things for financial freedom and making sure that the community has a health lifestyle,” he said.
While he was speaking at the event, an audience member noticed something he had no idea was there.
“There was an angel in the crowd, and she pointed out that I had a little large bump on my neck, and she could see it in the crowd,” Bigelow said. “As soon as I get off the stage, she said, you might want to go get that checked out.”
After some convincing from his mom, Bigelow went to the doctor. That’s when he said he got the news he had thyroid cancer.
“I was scared,” he said. “I thought about death. I thought about my mom, thought about me being the only child, how she’s going to take care of it.”
Dr. Zvonimir Milas, a surgeon at Levine Cancer Institute, said this is a typical reaction to such a diagnosis.
“Whenever someone gets a biopsy of cancer, whatever that cancer is, there’s a shock moment, disbelief moment, and then most people transition from that moment into ‘ok, let’s get this done,’” Milas said.
He says Bigelow’s thyroid cancer was Stage 2. The cancer was the size of an orange and growing.
Milas says the woman in the crowd that day in New Orleans saved Bigelow’s life.
“She identified something earlier,” he said. “The earlier you identify most cancers, certainly thyroid cancer, the more easily it is treated.”
Bigelow had his thyroid removed along with several cancerous lymph nodes. The next day, he was out of the hospital — grateful to be alive.
“It’s all crazy, but I have not lost it,” he said. “I am back at it, still shining, still glowing.”
Today, Bigelow is cancer-free and spreading his message to anyone who will listen, especially Black men. He says to take your health into your own hands.
“It’s ok to be selfish with your health,” Bigelow said. “I think it’s a way to create community, it’s making sure you have a support system around you and not going through it by yourself.”
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