Roman Reigns: WWE megastar lifts lid on leukaemia torment and treatment ahead of Fastlane

Reigns shocked the WWE Universe last October when he revealed he was diagnosed with the terrible disease for the second time in his life.

The Big Dog first fought the illness almost 11 years ago and after quickly putting it in remission the cancer unfortunately returned recently.

The ex-WWE Champion was dealing with CML (Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia) which is a type of cancer that causes the bone marrow to negatively affect the white blood cells.

The former Universal Champion was diagnosed in the early stages and that allowed him to undergo treatment with oral chemotherapy.

Reigns stated that it wasn’t an easy process as it caused him partial arthritis that started from his feet and went up to his hips.

The four-time world champion, though, insists this is better than undergoing radiation or real chemotherapy even though he couldn’t move very much in the first few months.

The 33-year-old grappler pointed out that modern medicine is actually making a lot of progress in the fight against cancer, even though it doesn’t seem like it to many, and it was one of these breakthroughs that helped him put leukaemia in remission once again.

Reigns said in WWE network’s Chronicle: “I have CML, it’s the chronic phase of leukaemia.

“It’s the earlier stages so it’s pretty much where you want to catch this disease.

“And pretty much for me there’s a pill that they make.

“They make an oral chemotherapy and there’s a few different types now.

“When I first started there was just one and it’s not like taking Advil, it’s nothing like taking radiation and true chemotherapy but it does have its side effects and it does have its nastiness about it.

“But at the end of the day if you’re lucky enough to just take a pill I think you’re ahead of the game.

“You know people say it all the time, ‘Why don’t we have any breakthroughs? Why aren’t there any medications? Why don’t we have any cures?’

“We do, we do. I mean, we’re just not talking about it as much. We’re not celebrating the wins in this process.

“And right now an oral chemotherapy is a huge win for people and I’m one of them.

“It’s allowed me to maintain a certain level of health, it’s allowed me to stay out of pain.

“There are some side effects, for me the main thing was arthritis.

“It started in my feet and went all the way up to my hips.

“But I’ll take a little bit of arthritis over going through radiation any day.”

After putting leukaemia in remission Reigns is ready to return to in-ring action at Fastlane this Sunday at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

The ex-US Champion has reformed The Shield with Seth Rollins as well as Dean Ambrose and they will take on Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley in a Six Man Tag Team Match.

source: express.co.uk