Tarek El Moussa opens up on the challenges of his life-altering nerve injury a year after beating cancer
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tarek El Moussa opened up about his battle with unforeseen health struggles and addiction to medication.
In his recently-released book 'Flip Your Life: How to Find Opportunity in Distress - in Real Estate, Business and, Life', the HGTV star discusses his health ordeal which began with a series of alarming medical episodes.
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Inside Tarek El Moussa's health struggles
In 2013, a vigilant fan of El Moussa's show 'Flip or Flop' fan, who was also a registered nurse noticed a lump on his neck.
The fan wrote to the show's producers about concern which led to a diagnosis of thyroid cancer.
Shortly after, the 42-year-old was also diagnosed with testicular cancer. However, he managed to recover from both through multiple surgeries and radioactive iodine therapy, according to People.
The 'Flipping El Moussas' host's health trial did not end there. Less than nine months after completing his cancer treatment, while playing golf after a long time, he suffered a severe back injury.
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He described the accident on the golf course as "the beginning of fifteen months of a whole new medical challenge."
El Moussa had slipped several discs in his lower back pinching his sciatic nerve which proved to be debilitating, affecting both his physical and mental health.
"In other words, what I had was not so much a back problem as it was a nerve problem—and it was debilitating," he said.
Tarek El Moussa reveals nerve problem took toll on his mental health
El Moussa further reflected on how the excruciating pain took a toll on his mental health and the "hamster wheel of painkillers" led him into a cycle of dependency.
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The television personality said that the severity of the pain rendered simple tasks like putting on shoes or socks impossible without depending on medication.
"Once I was vertical and highly medicated, I could function, but my walk was more like a shuffle. On a typical day, I would swallow eight or ten painkillers just to get through the day," El Moussa said.
"Between the Vicodin and the Dilaudid and the morphine, I was as high as a kite all day long," he added.
As a result of his "sick man diet", El Moussa who has now recovered from his health issues lost 60 pounds at the time.
Realizing the unsustainable nature of his dependence on medicine, he decided to undergo back surgery, a procedure that came with its own set of complications.
