Jason Collins, former NBA The player who became the first openly gay player to play in a major U.S. professional sports league said Thursday he is battling “one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer.”
Collins, who said in a brief statement in September that he is being treated for a brain tumor, told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne in an interview published Thursday that he has stage 4 glioblastoma.
“It happened incredibly quickly,” the 47-year-old said, describing early symptoms of memory loss and an inability to concentrate that reached a tipping point in August.
“I've had weird symptoms like this for a week or two, but unless something is really wrong, I'm going to fight. I'm an athlete,” Collins said.
But he said a CT scan revealed the extent and severity of his disease, which he said was glioblastoma “multiforme” that was growing so quickly that he could have died within weeks.
He said with the support of his husband, Brunson Green, and other friends and family, he began treatment with medication, followed by radiation and chemotherapy.
He said his decision to undergo the innovative treatment – now at a clinic in Singapore – reminded him of when he decided to come out as gay.
“I feel like I'm back in a position now where I can be the first one over that wall,” he said. “We are not going to sit back and let this cancer kill me without giving it a hard fight.
“We're going to try to hit this problem first in ways it's never been seen before: through radiation therapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy, which are still being studied but offer the most promising cancer treatment options for this type of cancer.
Collins recalled that when his grandmother was diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer, she didn't like hearing people use the word “cancer.”
“I don’t care if you say the word,” he said. “I have cancer, but I will fight it the same way my grandmother fought it.”
