Four years after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis announced the disease had spread and she has made the decision to “keep” her tumor.
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While speaking to CNN’s Stepanie Elam and Sara Sidner this week, Lewis admitted she went against her doctors’ recommendations for a double mastectomy following her diagnosis. That was when she revealed her cancer had spread. It’s now at stage four.
“My plan at first was to get out excessive toxins in my body I felt like my body is intelligent,” Ananda Lewis said about her cancer. “I know that to be true. Our bodies are brilliantly made.”
Lewis then stated that she decided to keep her tumor and try to work it out of her body in a different way. “Looking back on that, I go, ‘You know what? Maybe I should have.’”
Elam shared in a voiceover that Ananda Lewis decided to pursue a homeopathic approach to battling her cancer. She also uses medication and radiation with a better sleep routine and diet.
Ananda Lewis Recalls Feeling Her Cancer Start to Spread
Lewis opened up about when she found out her cancer had spread.
“My lymph system really flared up,” the MTV VJ recalled. “It was the first time I ever had a conversation with death because I felt like: This is how it is.”
She continued by pointing out, “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.’ “
Lewis further noted, “I literally had that conversation laying in my bed. I couldn’t get out of bed for, like, eight weeks.”
In 2020, Ananda Lewis revealed to her Instagram followers that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer after she refused mammograms for years due to her radiation exposure fears.
Sidner praised Elam and Lewis for battling breast cancer. The CNN anchor revealed in early 2024 she was diagnosed with breast cancer as well.
“These two are my sisters, my chosen family,” Sidner stated on Instagram. “We are there for each other in the good and the bad. So when they both began their breast cancer journeys, I didn’t know how best to support them and I also realized I had no idea what modern cancer treatment looks like.”
Elam then added, “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.”