Life after cancer: survivor on how whole foods, yoga, breathing exercises and golf helped him stay healthy and active after huge leg tumour
- Dexter D’Souza discovered he had a tumour the size of a beer bottle growing in his leg just three months after running the New York City Marathon
- His recovery and continued active lifestyle have been boosted by switching to cycling, changing his diet, doing yoga and hitting the golf course
Having trained hard in Hong Kong’s hot and sticky summer months leading up to the race, Dexter D’Souza ran the 2017 New York City Marathon in less than five hours. He felt strong, fit and unstoppable.
Three months later, his distance-running pursuits came to a crashing halt: he was diagnosed with cancer.
“In Hong Kong, a month after running the marathon, I noticed an unusual swelling in my right calf and dismissed it as a muscle pull from either running or my weekly squash game,” says 45-year-old D’Souza.
When he got it checked, doctors found a tumour the size of a beer bottle embedded in his right calf. He was diagnosed with advanced stage undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma – a type of soft-cancer tissue that is highly aggressive. A PET scan suggested it had potentially spread to lymph nodes higher up his leg.
