Ken McNickle, the runner-up for season 33 of “Survivor,” has revealed his cancer diagnosis.
The 43-year-old shared the news on Instagram on Monday, posting a photo of himself sitting in a doctor’s office.
“That moment when you hear the words ‘it’s cancer’ and everything becomes muted,” he wrote. “The doctor sounding like the teacher from ‘Charlie Brown.’ You realize nothing is registering other than that one word.”
He continued, writing that he felt a “flood of questions” about why and how it happened and admitted a “feeling of defeat.”
“And then I think about my daughter, my lady and the life we want and how there’s another option to fight. Because there’s always a choice. And I’m choosing optimism, health, happiness and knowing that the spirit has me. And most importantly, I’m choosing love,” he stated.
McNickle wrote in the caption that he considered not sharing his diagnosis, but decided to go public to hopefully inspire others to take care of their health.
In a follow up video to his post, he revealed he “waited almost a year until my skin was tearing open to get this checked.”
“Had I gone in sooner, it would have been a simple procedure,” he explained. “Not a three-inch hole in my chest.”
He continued, “I waited for almost three months seeing blood fill the stool every morning before getting it checked out and confirmed that my insides were tearing open. And I waited until that lump on my testes had grown to the size of the other two before getting it checked.”
McNickle also highlighted that men tend to avoid going to the doctor, leading to larger crises that could be prevented.
“We need to be talking more about why men are 50% less likely to go to a doctor for physical ailments and 60% less likely to get help with mental and emotional issues. Why do you think it is? What needs to change?”
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