Originally appeared on E! Online
Sidney Raz experienced a heartbreaking tragedy—but it may have saved his life.
Nearly seven months after the influencer’s daughter died in utero at only 26 weeks from Holoprosencephaly—an anomaly that prevents the brain from fully developing—he underwent genetic testing to find the cause off her rare birth defect. Only to discover he had stomach cancer.
“It was literally just my daughter’s DNA that saved my life,” Sidney said in a video posted to TikTok April 5, “and now there can be a path forward.”
While his wife Kelsey Raz didn’t have any abnormalities in her test results, Sidney seemed to have the same deletion of CTNNA1 as his daughter.
“Because of that deletion, in recent years, it has been seen to cause certain types of cancer—specifically stomach cancer,” Sidney explained. “I went in for the endoscopy, and today I found out that I have stomach cancer.”
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But luckily, circumstances have led the creator to receive an early diagnosis.
“I don’t know why I feel so compelled to post this on the internet,” he continued, “but I think it’s because I love the community and I love everything that has happened for me on the internet. But I also want to reassure myself that it’s probably the best case scenario that I could’ve hoped for.”
Out of the 36 biopsies they had sent in, only one of them showed signs of cancer.
“The really f-ed up part of it is that I probably have to lose my stomach,” he added, “and that sucks, but I would give more than one of my stomachs away to stay here.”
In a following update, Sidney shared that he will likely undergo that total stomach removal in the coming weeks.
“You can do that,” he said, “and keep going, apparently.”
The influencer remains optimistic about the journey ahead. After all, his condition could have been much worse if left undetected.
“The cancer was caught early enough where taking out my stomach is the best course of action,” he continued. “The doctor said today that if I hadn’t caught it this early, I would be back within three years at stage 3 or 4 cancer. So I might not have a stomach, but I’ll be here in three to four years.”
For more stars that have spoken about their cancer battles, keep reading.
Colin Egglesfield
Gerry Turner
Jim Beaver
Ariana Madix
Marcia Cross
Dustin Hoffman
Hugh Jackman
Camille Grammer
Cobie Smulders
Dr. Drew Pinsky
Brooke Burke
Angie Everhart
Christina Applegate
Michael C. Hall
Michelle Monaghan
Ewan McGregor
Sheryl Crow
Michael Douglas
Edie Falco
Anderson Cooper
Kylie Minogue
Barry Watson
Maura Tierney
Sharon Osbourne
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The post Sidney Raz Diagnosed with Stomach Cancer After Daughter Dies in Utero appeared first on E! News.
