Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis is sharing a significant update on her health journey.
Lewis, 51, previously revealed that she’d been diagnosed with stage III breast cancer in a 2020 Instagram post – sharing that she’d gone against her doctor’s recommendations to do a mammogram due to a long-term fear of radiation exposure.
But while chatting with her best friend and CNN journalist Stephanie Elam and CNN anchor Sara Sidner – who was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer early this year – Lewis announced that her illness has metastasized and is now at stage IV.
“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 shared. “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.’”
In a voice-over narration, Elam, 50, explained that Lewis experienced some improvements in her health after turning to “aggressive homeopathic therapies” and altering her diet and sleep habits, on top of receiving “traditional medication and radiation.” However, her cancer continued to grow, leading to a stage IV diagnosis.
“My lymph system really flared up,” the former MTV VJ 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,” she added.
“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 lying in my bed. I couldn’t get out of bed for, like, eight weeks.”
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Back in 2020, after receiving her breast cancer diagnosis, 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 at the time.
“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.”
Despite this, though, Lewis is happy that conversations around breast cancer are happening, and Elam, her best friend and CNN journalist, is forever grateful for her willingness to share her life with the world.
In an Instagram post shared about their table discussion, Elam stated, “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.”
