We're pulling for the recovery of former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis.
The 51-year-old, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, announced in a new CNN roundtable discussion that her illness has metastasized, and is now at stage IV. Joining Lewis on the special were her best friend and CNN journalist, Stephanie Elam, and CNN anchor Sara Sidner, who was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer earlier this year and recently completed her final treatment.
During the segment, Lewis explained that she did not opt for a double mastectomy after receiving her diagnosis. By the time she found a lump in her breast—having initially avoided mammograms due to fear of radiation—the disease was at stage III.
"My plan at first was to get out excessive toxins in my body. I felt like my body is intelligent, I know that to be true. Our bodies are brilliantly made,” Lewis told Elam and Sidner.
"I decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way," she continued. "Looking back on that, I go, ‘You know what? Maybe I should have.'"
In a voice-over narration, Elam shared that Lewis pursued holistic methods, rest and diet, along with radiation and medicine, as a means of recovery. However, after some initial improvement, the cancer spread.
Lewis mentioned that her "lymph system really flared up" and that it "was the first time I ever had a conversation with death because I felt like: This is how it is."
"I was just like, 'Fudge man, I really thought I had this.' I was frustrated, I was a little angry at myself," Lewis continued. "And I said, 'Man, listen. I know you’re coming for me at some point. But I don’t want it to be now. And if you could just wait, I promise when you do come, I’m gonna make it fun for you.'"
Lewis added that she "couldn't get out of bed for eight weeks" after this painful realization.
In her 2020 Instagram Reel about being diagnosed with breast cancer, Lewis urged women to get their annual mammograms, calling her past refusal a "mistake."
"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 breast exam—self exam—and thermography," Lewis said.
"And they would have caught it at a place where it was more manageable—where the treatment of it would have been a little easier. It’s never easier, but I use that word in comparison to what I’m going through now. Instead, what I’m dealing with is stage 3 breast cancer that is in my lymphs. I need you to get your mammograms."
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