Two-Time Cancer Survivor Tarek El Moussa: ‘I Want to Live For My Kids’
By Cooper Dowd, Staff Writer
After two battles with cancer, HGTV FLIP OR FLOP star Tarek El Moussa raises awareness about men’s health issues and shares what he learned from his cancer fight.
Thankfully, El Moussa beat both cancers and is motivated to live a healthy life for the sake of his children.
“[I’m] healthier than I’ve ever been in my life,” El Moussa said. “I’ve never eaten so clean, I’ve never taken so many vitamins, I’ve never gotten so much exercise. So I’m just taking care of my health. I want to live. I want to live for my kids. I want to live for my grandkids. You only get one life. You only have one body.”
In 2013, a fan of the popular home improvement show noticed a lump on El Moussa’s neck and wrote to the producers that it looked like thyroid cancer.
The fan’s, a registered nurse, assumption proved correct, and after further diagnosis, El Moussa discovered he had testicular cancer and thyroid cancer.
After a few weeks of processing his diagnosis, El Moussa scheduled his surgeries and radioactive iodine therapy and successfully beat the cancers.
El Moussa shares daughter Taylor, 10, and son Brayden, 5, with his ex-wife Christina Anstead and is ready for his upcoming wedding to fiancée, Heather Rae Young.
Not only have El Moussa’s children inspired him, but he also said Young is a positive influence on his health.
“Heather has made a lot of changes in my life. She feeds me, cooks for me, she tells me what to eat, she makes sure I’m taking my vitamins. She’s all over it,” El Moussa said.
El Moussa and Young plan to marry in the summer of 2021.
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