Jaime “Taboo” Gomez of the Black Eyed Peas recently shared his experience with testicular cancer. The 41-year-old was diagnosed when he was 38 years old, and he wants those that are going through similar experiences, that they’re not alone.
It all started with some pain in his back, on the right side of his body. He was very tired and almost felt like he had the flu, but since the symptoms and pain worsened he decided to go to the emergency room where they found he had cancer.
“I was in good shape,” he said to Forbes. “I ate healthy foods, worked out, and even with all that healthy living, it happened.” Taboo had surgery to remove the cancerous tumor from his right testicle and he also underwent chemotherapy since it had spread to the lymph nodes outside of the scrotal area.
Cancer is something that consumes your life and in order to help spread awareness, he’s decided to help others affected by cancer. He even released a song called “The Fight,” from which the American Cancer Society will receive approximately 70% of the purchase price. He’s a Global Ambassador for the ACS and even performed at the ACS Relay for Life last year.
“A lot of people have a misconception about artists, that they’re invincible, you know, they’re on a different plateau. But I’m just a human being,” he said. “I’m a normal person just like everybody else. I just may have a different job. But I have kids, wife. I bleed, I went through cancer.”
Taboo is Native American and Mexican and feels that people in those communities need to hear more about cancer prevention and diet, plus they shouldn’t be afraid to seek medical care when they suffer from persistent pain. “I’m speaking to every demographic, I’m speaking to every age,” Gomez said. With “cancer there’s no prejudice. There’s no age limit. It can happen to anybody.”
Testicular cancer affects young men, the median age for people that are diagnosed is 33 years, but half of those that are affected are between 20 and 34 years old. Early diagnosis is extremely important and in general the prognosis for testicular cancer is excellent, approximately 97%, according to the American Cancer Society.
“I went through a very intense chemotherapy that lasted for 12 weeks,” Gomez said. “As soon as I was done, I wanted to tell the world, but it wasn’t the right time.” A close friend, David Lara, a man he’s known since he was a teenager in high school, advised Gomez to wait. “I didn’t want to just Instagram or tweet it out,” he said. “I needed to chill before I presented my story to the world.”