A local Univision anchor is back in front of the morning cameras after taking part in a clinical trial to fight testicular cancer.
Luis Gomez, 40, was full of energy as he spoke to DailyMail.com on Thursday morning, just a couple of hours after he completed his third ‘Al Despertar’ [‘Waking Up’] broadcast since his return to the New York City station after a near three-month break.
If it were up to him, he would have take on Univision 41’s mid-day and evening spots later in the day, too.
After all, he’s been given a second chance at life and wants to spread ‘simple’ words to everyone who has offered their support and those who might be in his same shoes.
Luis Gomez was diagnosed with cancer in October 2017. In June 2018 he took a break after undergoing a clinical trial. He returned Tuesday for the morning newscast with Yisel Tejada (pictured together)
Gomez, 40, was full of energy as he spoke to DailyMail.com on Thursday morning
He was welcomed back to work Tuesday after taking a three-month break while recuperating from a clinical trial to remove cancer from his liver
‘The message is very simple, the message is don’t stop living while you’re breathing,’ Gomez said.
‘Because if you decide there is no possibility when you receive devastating news, there is no hope. At that moment you’re living dead. You’re breathing but you’re not doing anything although you can still do so much. We have to march on while we can.’
Gomez, an 18-year industry veteran, detected a small mass in his left testicle while showering in September 2017. He figured it would be best to schedule a visit with an urologist. About three weeks later, he was diagnosed with stage 1 testicular cancer.
The Mexican native had a tumor from his left testicle removed October 18, and within a matter of days he was back behind the desk anchoring his normal 5am to 7am spot.
Gomez with his wife Luceli are pictured after he had tumor removed from his left testicle on November 18
Gomez and his wife Luceli are seen here at a New York Yankees game
Gomez ran the 2017 New York Marathon weeks after he underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from a testicle
Gomez is pictured recovering from treatment with his mother Karin, who lives in Mexico
Amazingly, Gomez then went on to complete the 2017 New York City Marathon, in just 3 hours, 52 minutes.
However, a month after running the marathon, a CAT scan on December 6 revealed a setback as the cancer had spread to his lung and liver.
The news was particularly hard on his parents, who live in Mexico, his two brothers, and his doctor wife Luceli, who recently completed her general surgery fellowship.
‘For the first time the word “death” entered my mind and fear completely invaded me,’ recalled Gomez of those tense moments once doctors ruled it worsened to stage 3C.
‘I had lost hope, but not the faith. Hope, in the sense that I didn’t know if I was going to live and I saw it as difficult,’ Gomez added during the phone interview.
But the ‘Heart of a Warrior’, as he’s called by his supportive Univision 41 colleagues, just couldn’t quit.
Beginning in December, Gomez had seven rounds of chemotherapy. He had it every 21 days and finished it in March 2018.
A test in May found a recurrence of his cancer in the liver, revealing a six centimeter area that needed to be treated.
Gomez has always made sure to keep his viewers updated onis battle against cancer
Gomez, pictured in hospital, said: ‘It’s a daily, day-to-day battle. Be happy. Live day-to-day’
Gomez still held out hope knowing he couldn’t let down the same people who were supporting him.
He signed up for a clinical trial in June which required much stronger chemotherapy session, and included the infusion of stem cells.
He took a three month break from the cameras and returned Tuesday.
The clinical trial reduced the liver area to just two centimeters. Still, Gomez will have to return to the hospital in the next couple of weeks to have part of his liver removed.
He is now living day-to-day as opposed to thinking what the future had in store.
Just a week ago, his doctor told him he had a 50 per cent chance of being cured.
‘You can’t think, “well I am going to die, my life stops here,”‘ Gomez said.
‘On the contrary, you have to understand there are possibilities, focus on it. It’s a daily, day-to-day battle. Be happy. Live day-to-day… and not in the future because if you start thinking about the future, you will fall into a monotony where you will notice there is no future’.