Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis reveals stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis

Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis has revealed she’s been diagnosed with signifier 4 bosom cancer.

After initially sharing her signifier 3 presumption connected Instagram successful 2020, she said she decided to spell against having a doctor-recommended treble mastectomy to dainty her crab astatine the time.

“I decided to support my tumor and effort to enactment it retired of my assemblage a antithetic way,” she shared during a CNN roundtable this week. “Looking backmost connected that I go, ‘Girl, possibly I should’ve [had the surgery].'”

Lewis, 51, said she learned past twelvemonth the crab had metastasized into signifier 4.

“That scan showed that I had this [cancer] benignant of up my spine, done my hip, astir everyplace but my brain,” the erstwhile “Teen Summit” big said. “I’ve ne'er been successful symptom similar that successful my life.”

“It was the archetypal clip I ever had a speech with death,” Lewis confessed to her adjacent friend, CNN analogous Stephanie Elam. “I felt similar this is however it ends. I don’t get acrophobic of things. I was conscionable like, ‘Fudge, man. I truly thought I had this.’ I was frustrated. I was a small aggravated astatine myself.”

Due to the existent signifier of her illness, Lewis said she isn’t a campaigner for country and chemotherapy.

She told The New York Times connected Wednesday that she’s now taking a cause that treats precocious signifier cancer: “Those medications are moving beautifully for maine successful operation with the different things I’m doing that assistance enactment my body. I’m truly thriving close now.”

Lewis said the unspecified medicine shrank immoderate of the tumors, making immoderate of them “almost undetectable.”