Deion Sanders was "unashamed" to open up about the effects of his bladder removal surgery in a new interview with Good Morning America.
In June, the NFL legend and current Colorado Buffaloes coach revealed in a vlog that he'd undergone a bladder reconstruction procedure to remove a cancerous tumor the previous month. Coach PrimeTime is cancer-free after a full recovery, although he now uses adult diapers and a portable bathroom that he keeps on the sidelines during Buffaloes games.
In the GMA interview with Michael Strahan, Sanders said that he wasn't "ashamed" of his health journey. "Now I got different battles. I'm not just battling the football team across from me. I'm battling peeing every night," he said.
Sanders also jokingly compared his diaper usage to his infant grandson. "Thank God that I depend on Depends," Sanders said around the four-minute mark of the video below.
"It seems like a cliche but it's the truth. I never would have thought, but I really, really do. And I'm trying to like, 'Okay, doc, am I going to get better? Am I going to get better? Cuz I'm waking up like my grandson, you know?'" Sanders joked.
After explaining that he uses the portable bathroom "once a game," Sanders elaborated on some of his other health issues, like two of his toes being amputated due to blood clots.
"I mean, even getting up every day, I got eight toes. I mean, I'm hurting," Sanders admitted. Like, when I'm going through a game, I got to wear certain type of shoes, bottoms to make sure that my feet are not just going crazy by the fourth quarter."
But the former Dallas Cowboys player added that he's "thankful to be here." "Either one of those, the blood clots or, you know, the cancer could have taken me out, but I'm here. So I'm thankful," he said.
In his bladder reconstructive surgery, a part of Sander's intestine was removed to rebuild his organ, called a 'neobladder.' After his first procedure, Sanders recalled "screaming" in the bathroom due to being in "excruciating pain." The following surgery, which was the major procedure, Sanders said that doctors "took everything out."
Elsewhere, Sanders expressed that he's "happy" and "thankful" to be cancer-free, and felt like "rejoicing" when he received the good news.
"You got to understand when I left the hospital here and went to Texas to just go through the trials and tribulations," Sanders said. "You got two bags, you know, one for your your pee and one for blood. And you carry these things around. I'm out there fishing with these two bags.""
"I'm doing my mile walk every day with these bags and you couldn't wait to get them off after two to three weeks because that was a part of your life to take a shower with them and do everything. I can't couldn't wait to get them off. Then finally when you get them off, you're free. It's like a freedom, but you're still going through it."
But last Saturday (October 4), the former football player announced during a press conference that he'll be headed to the doctor's office to examine whether he has remaining blood clots. "It don’t make sense. I’m hurting like crazy," he told reporters. "I’m not getting blood to my legs. That’s why my leg is throbbing."