Alexis Ohanian: Reddit founder and Serena Williams husband's update about thyroid surgery after cancer scare

Alexis Ohanian is the co-founder of internet forum Reddit, and is married to tennis player Serena Williams.

He posted on Instagram about a recent trip to hospital in a move aimed at preventing cancer.

“After tracking some suspicious nodules on my thyroid for the last 4 years, I recently had half of it surgically removed,” Ohanian wrote.

“The nodules were getting bigger, and the latest biopsy showed they were very likely to turn cancerous. My mom had breast cancer around this age (41), and then ultimately passed away from brain cancer a decade or so later. I hate cancer.

“I wasn’t gonna take any chances. I’m extra grateful this Thanksgiving because I got the call this morning confirming that the half of my thyroid that was removed was indeed full of some gnarly nodules that were very likely to become cancerous.”

He said that he was recovering and was able to take his daughters - Olympia, seven, and Adira, 15 months - to Disney World this week.

He added: “The worst part, to be honest, has been not being able to lift for 2 weeks. But big fella will be back at it next week. To my fellow dads — make those doctor’s appointments. Especially if y’all are dads. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.”

And in the summer Ohanian was diagnosed with Lyme disease after several tests - despite having no symptoms.

Last month Williams revealed that she had a branchial cyst on her neck. While it was not cancerous, it was removed because “it was the size of a small grapefruit and it could get infected or worse leak”.