How a Vacation in DR Saved My Life

The Weight of It All

I never had issues with my weight. Not in high school, not in college, not even during those long nights of bodega chicken cutlets and peach snapple. My metabolism was the Soviet tank of my body, indestructible, relentless, a machine that could roll over anything.

Then came the thyroid. Or more precisely, the removal of the thyroid. One day I had a gland, the next I had a scar. And with it, the silent machinery that had kept me humming along decided to retire early.

For years, I never really spoke about it publicly. Friends knew, of course. Anyone close enough to notice the faint scar running across my neck. I used to catch people’s eyes flicker down when I wore an open shirt. Some would ask. Most wouldn’t.

I hinted instead. A photo on my private Instagram. An NY Rangers “Hockey Fights Cancer” shirt. Quiet nods, never a declaration. But now I feel ready to say it plainly. I had my thyroid removed. My body is different now. And so is my weight.

The Break Before the Break

It happened about a year after I finally found my voice as Baba Fira. After years of trying to break into the industry, I had been grinding away twelve, thirteen, sometimes sixteen hours a day on movie sets and my own projects.

One of my earliest “I made it” moments was working as a paparazzi in the HBO film Phil Spector with Al Pacino, directed by David Mamet. Mamet was not just a director I respected but a writer whose books I devoured in film school. I only worked two or three days, but they were golden days. Literally golden time: when you work sixteen hours straight, the clock flips and you get your daily wage per hour. You tell that story to other background actors the way gamblers tell of lucky hands.

I was finally off to the Dominican Republic with my homies for vacation the next day after shooting, feeling on top of the world. Someone even recognized me: “Hey, aren’t you Baba Fira?” in DR not only Brighton Beach, That was a thrill.

But one night, after coming back from the discoteka, it started pouring. I was tipsy, lost my balance, slipped near a bush, and hit my head. Thank God it was on the grass. The rain felt amazing as I lay there, trying to get myself together. I eventually made it back to the room and woke up with a headache. Not a hangover headache. Something sharper.

I went to the clinic, got an ice pack, and was told to stay out of the sun. A mild concussion, they would later say. But that fall led to something I could never have predicted.

The Checkup That Changed Everything

Back in New York, I went to the doctor for the headaches. They checked me out, confirmed the concussion, but also noticed something on my neck. Tests followed, and then the words I will never forget: they had found a cancerous part in my thyroid.

My world stopped. Why me. Why not me. How. From what. I thought of Chernobyl. I was born two years after the explosion in Ukraine. Was that it. Who knows.

The doctor told me it wasn’t an emergency, but it needed to be removed soon. Not tomorrow, not next week, but soon. I started telling friends and realized how many people had been through the same thing.

The timing was cruel. I had just found my voice as an actor, as a creator. Baba Fira was taking shape. And now the doctors warned me there was a two to three percent chance I might lose my voice entirely because the tumor was close to my vocal cords. At twenty-four or twenty-five years old, that was terrifying.

Before the surgery, I filmed a throwback video with Joseph, who played a younger character. That video was my quiet farewell, just in case. Thankfully, the surgery went well. The thyroid was gone, but my voice remained.

A New Way Forward

Looking back, I thank God I fell on that grass in the Dominican Republic. If I had not gone to the doctor, if they had not noticed my neck, who knows what might have happened.

The surgery changed me. I started eating better, drinking less, focusing more on my health. Every three months, I get my blood checked. Thyroid removal makes you aware of things you never thought about, like fatty liver, hormone levels, metabolism. The weight gain that comes with thyroid meds is real. Losing weight is harder.

At first, I kept telling myself I would make a video, post progress pictures, hold myself accountable online. But I realized not everything has to be a TikTok or Instagram reel. Sometimes writing is enough. Sometimes letting people hear your inner voice on the page is the best way to be consistent.

It was hard enough during Covid when I made that video about what I went through. Writing feels more natural now.

So here is my commitment. I will put my health and weight first. I want to look and feel good, not just for the projects I’m working on, but for myself.

And to anyone else out there with thyroid issues, you are not alone. More men should be getting their blood checked regularly. Health is not just for when things go wrong. Health is for keeping yourself here, alive, and present.

I am okay now. I just have to keep going.

The Numbers

I recently hit my all-time high. Two hundred fifty-seven. Kashmar. One second I was one-ninety, then two hundred, then two-fifteen, then two-thirty-five for a minute, and then two-forty-five. For a long time I would go up and down between two-thirty and two-forty. And now it is two-fifty-seven. Pizdets.

I do wish I had been in the gym more when I was younger instead of only thinking about work. If you are reading this, I ask you for yourself and your family to try to be healthy, not only when you do the Yom Kippur fast. Do it now. I am, for me. And when you see me in a TV show or movie coming up and think, wow Baba Fira is big. Lol