Robert “LaTruth” Hampton opened up about his harrowing journey to beating stomach cancer during a recent sit-down interview, and how the disease impacted many others in his family.
The influencer and rapper has more than 1 million followers on social media, and even has a single, “Don’t Disrespect” featuring rap legend Snoop Dogg.
Hampton is using his platform to educate people on stomach cancer and shared the symptoms he had before learning he had stomach cancer.
As a stomach cancer survivor, he retraced that path during the interview on “The Culture Club Uncensored” on March 26. His mother passed away from the disease when he was young, and his sister also passed away from stomach cancer about five years ago. Hampton said that his siblings then realized that the disease ran in the family, and they got genetic testing.
“My mother, she died from stomach cancer when I was 5 years old, and my sister passed away from it, I’m going say five years ago,” he recalled. “Soon as she passed, we realized that it was something we needed to take a look at, you know? So I went and did a gene test, me all my siblings, and every one of us had the CDH1 gene mutation.”
According to the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the gene is an indicator of inherited cancer syndrome that leads to an increased risk of stomach cancer, often at a young age.
Hampton said with the exception of his younger sister, all of his siblings had the gene and had their stomachs removed. Three years later in 2021, LaTruth learned he had stage I cancer.
“My brother got his stomach removed for preventive, and then I found out uh, I’m going say three years after they got their stomachs took out, I found that I had stage I stomach cancer.”
Hampton said he was 250 pounds when he was diagnosed and immediately began exercising seven days a week and losing weight with a six-month juice and vegetables-only diet. He dropped down to 170 pounds “on the date I had to get my stomach completely removed.” Hampton stayed on a liquid diet following the procedure but is now able to eat solid foods including shrimp and vegetables like asparagus and sweet potatoes.
“My symptoms were feeling boated all the time, heartburn, acid reflux, lack of energy, and appetite loss,” he recalled. LaTruth added that it is important to chew his food a lot more than he did before and refrain from drinking liquid while eating.
LaTruth also shared how one eats without their stomach. “What they do is they attach your esophagus to your small intestine, right? When you bypass the stomach, the food goes straight to the intestines.”
“I’m a firm believer that the body does heal itself,” he added. “So I would like to encourage anybody if you are having any type of symptoms like that, eat healthy. Juice your fruits and vegetables.” Hampton also said that fruit gives him energy and is the easiest food to digest.
In April of 2022, Hampton learned that he was cancer-free, and he shared a video noting that he wanted to help others and encouraged people to have endoscopies.
“Cancer-free guys,” he said. “So, y’all, keep paying attention to what i’m telling you all about stomach cancer. Go get your endoscopies and all that. Make sure you good. … That’s all I’m about right now. I’m trying to reach everybody and help everybody else out. That’s what this journey is for.”
During his cancer battle, LaTruth and his estranged wife Briana, received criticism for documenting his recovery online.
“My followers told me to stop posting my cancer story but I refused because I wanna continue spreading the word about Stomach cancer and save lives,” he wrote on Facebook. “My testimony will save millions of people’s lives. I don’t care if I lose supporters by doing the right thing. It was so many rumors being spread saying I never had cancer and it was just people trying to stop my testimony from helping people.”
Hampton wants people to know that eating a lot of meat, smoking, drinking alcohol, and being overweight can raise the risk of getting the disease.
