Ananda Lewis’ cancer has sadly progressed to Stage 4.
The ’90s MTV’s VJ sat down with friends Stephanie Elam and Sara Sidner for a candid CNN discussion about her health… Which she revealed has only gotten worse since she announced her Stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis in 2020. And it’s partially because she refused the advice of her doctors.
Oncologists advised the 51-year-old undergo a double mastectomy to help get rid of her cancer – but she wanted to try and hold onto her “quality of life.” So instead she embraced the hope alternative medicine gave her, that she could avoid that kind of tough choice. Instead of the surgery, she tried to get the “excessive toxins” out of her body:
“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 … I decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way.”
It didn’t work. Because there isn’t a magic cure, unfortunately. And now that her cancer has progressed, she feels she may have made a mistake. She admitted:
“Looking back on that, I go, ‘You know what? Maybe I should have.’”
So, so heartbreaking. Please listen to your doctors, people!
Speaking about her “options” at the time of her diagnosis, Ananda explained:
“I didn’t have good options. They wanted to take both [breasts], they wanted to do all these big things that I was not ready for. So I did detoxing, I completely changed my diet, I started working on my emotional landscape. You know, when you’re trying to turn a huge ship in the ocean, you have to slow that sucker down first. You’re not flipping a 180 like you’re in a Porsche… So I had to slow it down, period — that I thought was very effective.”
And for a bit, Ananda’s overall health was improving with the “aggressive homeopathic therapies.” She did also agree to undergo “traditional medication and radiation,” which was a help. But unfortunately, she really needed that double mastectomy. The cancer metastasized, growing to the point where it became Stage 4 last year. She revealed:
“My lymph system really flared up. And so, all through my abdomen, all those lymphs were very flared up, my collar bone. It was the first time I ever had a conversation with death because I felt like, ‘This is how it ends.’ You know, I was like, ‘OK, so I don’t get afraid of things.’”
She added:
“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 lying in my bed. I couldn’t get out of bed for, like, eight weeks.”
What a devastating feeling that must have been… Especially when she had so much hope.
Ananda went on to mull over the fact that at the end of the day, “nobody gets out of here alive,” so it was her responsibility to make sure she “thrive[s].” She said:
“My quality of life was very important to me … There’s certain things I know I’m not going to be okay with, and I know myself. I want to want to be here. And so I had to do it a certain way for me.”
Our hearts break for Ananda. We’re wishing her health and love. You can listen to her full convo about her decision (below):
[Images via CNN/YouTube & Dimitri Halkidis/WENN]
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