Current:Home > MarketsFormer MTV VJ Ananda Lewis shares stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis-LoTradeCoin
Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis shares stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis
View Date:2024-12-23 23:58:17
Ananda Lewis is opening up about her cancer battle.
The former MTV VJ and "Teen Summit" host, 51, revealed in an interview with CNN that she has been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer.
Lewis said her cancer was at stage 3 when she was diagnosed in 2019 after she found a lump in her breast, and after going against her doctors' recommendation to get a double mastectomy, she learned last year it had metastasized into stage 4.
"It was the first time I ever had a conversation with death," she told CNN. "I felt like this is how it ends. I don't get afraid of things. I was just like, 'Fudge, man. I really thought I had this.' I was frustrated. I was a little angry at myself."
Stage 4 breast cancer occurs when the cancer has spread to other areas of the body. "There isn't a cure, but thanks to newer treatments, more people with metastatic breast cancer are living longer than ever before," the Cleveland Clinic notes.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Olivia Munnreveals breast cancer diagnosis, underwent double mastectomy
Lewis initially revealed her stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis in an emotional video on Instagram in October 2020, the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She said at the time she had been "fighting to get cancer out of my body for almost two years," and she urged followers not to neglect their mammograms like she had.
Task forcesays this is when women should begin breast cancer screening, get mammograms
"For a really long time, I have refused mammograms, and that was a mistake," she said, adding, "If I had done the mammograms from the time they were recommended, when I turned 40, they would have caught the tumor in my breast years before I caught it through my own self-exam, and they would have caught it at a place where it was more manageable."
Lewis told CNN a scan last year showed the cancer had spread "up my spine, through my hips, almost everywhere but my brain." In an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, she said she is now taking medications that are "working beautifully" for her.
In a conversation on YouTube, Lewis reiterated her "biggest mistake" was not staying on top of early detection. But she said that a year since she received her stage 4 diagnosis, she is feeling "fantastic" today. "I'm going to live and want to thrive," she said.
Numerous celebrities have shared breast cancer diagnoses this year, including Olivia Munn and "The Office" star Jenna Fischer. Fischer said in an Instagram post that she was diagnosed with stage 1 triple-positive breast cancer but is now cancer free after completing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. In her announcement, the actress urged followers not to skip their mammograms.
"My tumor was so small it could not be felt on a physical exam," Fischer wrote. "If I had waited six months longer, things could have been much worse. It could have spread."
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Pistons' Ausar Thompson cleared to play after missing 8 months with blood clot
- Grey's Anatomy's Kevin McKidd and Station 19’s Danielle Savre Pack on the PDA in Italy
- Kim Cattrall Reacts to Her Shocking Sex and the City Return
- BP’s Incoming Boss Ready to Scale Down Gulf Clean-up Operation
- Trump has promised to ‘save TikTok’. What happens next is less clear
- Padma Lakshmi Leaving Top Chef After Season 20
- Conservationists Go Funny With Online Videos
- Plastics: The New Coal in Appalachia?
- Beyoncé course coming to Yale University to examine her legacy
- 2 more Connecticut officers fired after man became paralyzed in police van
Ranking
- Police capture Tennessee murder suspect accused of faking his own death on scenic highway
- What is malaria? What to know as Florida, Texas see first locally acquired infections in 20 years
- How Al Pacino’s Pregnant Girlfriend Noor Alfallah Is Relaxing During 3rd Trimester
- U.S. to house migrant children in former North Carolina boarding school later this summer
- Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Lemon quit X, formerly Twitter: 'Time for me to leave'
- 7 die at Panama City Beach this month; sheriff beyond frustrated by ignored warnings
- ‘Is This Real Life?’ A Wall of Fire Robs a Russian River Town of its Nonchalance
- States Are Using Social Cost of Carbon in Energy Decisions, Despite Trump’s Opposition
Recommendation
-
How Kim Kardashian Navigates “Uncomfortable” Situations With Her 4 Kids
-
Fourth of July flight delays, cancellations contributing to summer travel woes
-
Produce to the People
-
Climate Funds for Poor Nations Still Unresolved After U.S.-Led Meeting
-
Veterans face challenges starting small businesses but there are plenty of resources to help
-
Kate Middleton Is Pretty in Pink at Jordan's Royal Wedding With Prince William
-
Payment of Climate Debt, by Rich Polluting Nations to Poorer Victims, a Complex Issue
-
U.S. House Hacks Away at Renewable Energy, Efficiency Programs