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Louis Gossett, Jr.
Actor
I'd gotten some parasites from Africa and Mexico. I figured it was the accumulation of travel. But in my home, there was a 10-year slow drip, and my house was full of toxic mold. And it went straight to my kidney.
Q: How did you find out you had kidney cancer?
I get thorough examinations twice a year. When you get over 50, I highly recommend everybody to do that. And so they're looking like a fine-toothed comb, and they found, during a sonogram, something suspicious. (Laughs) And I knew something was wrong when the doctor came to me at 9:00 at night with a therapist.
Q. How can you say you feel better when you're missing one kidney?
One kidney takes over the responsibility of two. And it overcompensates, especially if everything else in the body is clean and healthy. I've never felt better in all my life.
Respected actor Louis Gossett, Jr. is one of the leading African American voices in American cinema. He's received critical acclaim and commercial success for his diverse body of work, which includes A Raisin in the Sun on Broadway, an Oscar-winning turn in An Officer and a Gentleman and the landmark miniseries, Roots-for which he won an Emmy.
Related Episode
Recommended Web Sites
Get kidney cancer overview from the American Cancer Society.
Learn about the latest research at the Kidney Cancer Association.
Find out the signs and symptoms of kidney cancer at The Mayo Clinic site.
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Published: September 15, 2005
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