Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis has revealed that her breast cancer metastasized after she decided to keep her tumor, per PEOPLE.
Lewis, 51, announced in 2020 that she was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer, noting that she had declined to get mammograms for years due to fear of radiation exposure.
During a recent round-table discussion on cancer with CNN’s Stephanie Elam and Sara Sidner, who was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year, Lewis revealed she went against her doctors' recommendation to have a double mastectomy following her diagnosis.
“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 said during the discussion. “I decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way,"
“Looking back on that, I go, ‘You know what? Maybe I should have,’" the former video jockey added.
In a voice-over, Elam said Lewis tried homeopathic remedies to treat her cancer along with medication, radiation, and better sleep and diet. Elam said Lewis initially saw improvements but later discovered that her cancer had spread and is now stage IV.
“My lymph system really flared up,” Lewis said. “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, 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.’ “
“I literally had that conversation laying in my bed. I couldn’t get out of bed for, like, eight weeks,” she said.
Of her decision to not get the double mastectomy, Lewis said: “My quality of life was very important to me … I want to want to be here. So I had to do it a certain way, for me.”
Sidner, who underwent a double mastectomy in May, said her breast cancer diagnosis made her realize "I want to be here...I want to thrive in a way I have never felt before."
Elam shared a clip of their roundtable discussion in an Instagram post, saying “I’m forever grateful for their willingness to have this conversation with me - to fully open up for the world. If we can get just one woman to get their mammogram because of this conversation, that’s success. I want everyone to live long, healthy lives.”
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