The tennis world is no stranger to surprises, but this time, the headlines aren’t about aces or match points. Instead, it’s a deeply personal revelation from Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams’ husband, that has fans concerned yet inspired. As families gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving, Ohanian took a moment to reflect and share a heartfelt update on social media. He opened up about battling an unexpected health issue that shook him, but with effective treatment and resilience, he’s now on the mend.

The 41-year-old took to his X account and shared updates about his health. Ohanian revealed that he battled with a suspicious disease that had the potential of turning cancerous. The Reddit co-founder also shared a couple of pictures as he attempted to depict the various phases of his current life transitioning quickly from hospital bed to enjoying with his children at Disney World. Ohanian also made a special request to all the fathers across the globe regarding their health.

Captioning the post, Ohanian revealed, “After tracking some suspicious nodules on my thyroid for the last 4 years, I recently got half of it surgically removed.” Detailing his problems further, he shared, “The nodules were getting bigger & the latest biopsy revealed they’d very likely turn cancerous. My mom had breast cancer around this age (41) and then ultimately died from brain cancer a decade or so later. I hate cancer.” Ohanian’s mother Anke Ohanian was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor in 2005 and later passed away in 2008 at the age of 54 in her Columbia, Maryland home. Hence, Ohanian did not wish to take anything lightly especially surrounding his health.

“I wasn’t gonna take any chances; the surgery was smooth and I’m extra grateful this Thanksgiving because I got the call this morning that my now-removed-half-of-thyroid was indeed full of some gnarly nodules that were very likely to become cancerous,” he further added. However, he highlighted that his life is coming back on track and despite not being able to be at the peak of his health for the last two weeks, he was able to take her daughters to Disney World. Continuing further, he made a special request to all dads and wrote, “To my fellow, men — make those doctor’s appointments — especially if y’all are dads. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.” This, however, is not the only health issue that Ohanian faced recently. 

Taking to his social media in July this year, Serena Williams’ husband revealed that he was diagnosed with Lyme disease, a condition transmitted to humans via infected tick bites. He also expressed his surprise since he did not spend much time in the Northeast or in other regions where ticks are common. Interestingly, Ohanian was among the rare populations that developed the issue without symptoms. But he seems to have battled through that as well, as he revealed recently. 

In an X post a few weeks ago, Ohanian shared pictures from the gym and shared, “Dragged my a** in here before flying out. Eating clean the last year, pretty consistent taking my daily atorvastatin, and only drinking booze on special occasions.” He further wrote, “Lift Routine is the same tho. Just got another lipid panel back an LDL (bad cholesterol) has improved! It’s now 89.” And interestingly, when it comes to taking self-care and prioritizing his health, Ohanian’s daughters become his biggest motivation, as he himself shared earlier. 

When Alexis Ohanian revealed how his daughters motivate him to a healthy lifestyle

Alexis Ohanian never fails to express his love for his family and when it comes to his daughters, he ensures to take the notch to the highest levels possible. It is this love for his daughters that keeps the business mogul determined to prioritize his health. In an interview with Entrepreneur, he revealed that his early 20s were marked by unhealthy habits and irregular practices, however, he ensured to transition soon after realizing his responsibilities as a father. 

“I was like, I need to change everything so that I can be around for as long as possible for this little one (Olympia),” Ohanian said in 2023. “And that’s been one of the superpowers, frankly, of becoming a dad.” The major reason he attributes to these changes is the perception he wanted to build about himself for his daughters. “You actually don’t care about anything else in the world other than this kid’s perception of you. Another gear unlocks once you have that dose of humility, and it’s great. I think it’s made me so much better.”

Now, as he has battled past yet another health crisis, it would be interesting to see if more updates about his health and his road to recovery emerge.