A social media influencer and author of “Life Hacks, Tips & Tricks” revealed he’s been diagnosed with stomach cancer following the death of his baby daughter.
Virginia-based Sidney Raz, real name Sidney Raskind, revealed via a March 30 Instagram video that after his wife, Kelsey, lost their child in utero at 26 weeks last September, the couple underwent genetic testing.
“We lost the baby to holoprosencephaly,” Raz explained, referring to a rare birth defect that occurs when “a baby’s brain ordinarily separates into two sections,” per Child Neurology Foundation.
He continued, “It was found that she [his daughter] had a deletion … so we did genetic testing on me and Kelsey didn’t have that deletion but I did have that deletion. And because of that deletion, in recent years, it has been seen to cause certain types of cancer, specifically stomach cancer. I scheduled an endoscopy and … today I found out that I have stomach cancer.”
In the week that followed his announcement, Raz continued to share several life hacks, spanning cold water utilised as an easy method to remove gloves to a new method to crack eggs, however, he later shared an update on his diagnosis last weekend.
In a Saturday, April 5, Instagram video, Raz revealed that he showed no symptoms prior to his diagnosis. “That’s not how this all played out,” he explained. “There were no symptoms, I had no symptoms. It was literally just my daughter’s DNA that saved my life. And now there can be a path forward.”
He also offered advice to viewers who feel compelled to embark on their own DNA investigations. “Ask [a genetic specialist] to do a full panel of CDH1 and then look for CTNNA,” Raz recommended. “Those are the two right now that we know that lead to this type of diffuse gastric cancer. I hope that helps.”
In an Instagram post shared one day later, Raz revealed he was in the “exploratory phase” where health experts were determining what stage of cancer he is suffering from. He detailed a plan to undergo further blood and stomach tests to determine whether he would require chemotherapy or having his stomach removed.
News of Raz’s exploratory phase arrived just days after he told fans via a TikTok video that he will “probably” need to have his stomach removed on Friday, April 18. It is uncertain if this is still the case.
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