MTV host Ananda Lewis has sadly died after a long fight with breast cancer. She had a heartwrenching regret when it came to her diagnosis
MTV presenter Ananda Lewis spoke candidly about one heartbreaking regret before her death.
The iconic TV personality was best known for her stint as an MTV host during the network’s “veejay” era in the late 1990s. Sadly, on Wednesday, 11 June, it was confirmed that she had tragically passed away after a long fight with breast cancer.
Ananda revealed her ongoing struggle with stage 3 breast cancer in October 2020, two years after being diagnosed. Taking to Instagram with a video, she spoke about her diagnosis and heartbreakingly admitted to having delayed regular mammograms due to her fear of radiation exposure.
In the video, she said: “I would have probably had 3 or 4 mammograms by the time they caught [the breast cancer]. Instead, I have had to have two PET scans so far. Guess how many mammograms worth of radiation a PET scan is worth? 30! So 60 mammograms. You do the math!
READ MORE: Ananda Lewis dead: Iconic MTV host passes away at 52 following battle with breast cancer
“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, and they would have caught it at a place where the treatment of it would have been a little easier.”
She captioned the post: “This is tough for me, but if just ONE woman decides to get her mammogram after watching this, what I’m going through will be worth it.”
Women between the ages of 50 and 71, who are registered with a GP, are invited for their NHS breast screening every three years. The NHS shares that the main symptoms of breast cancer in women are:
- Lump, or swelling, in your breast, chest or armpit
- Change in the skin of your breast, such as dimpling (may look like orange peel) or redness (may be harder to see on black or brown skin)
- Change in the size or shape of one or both breasts
- Nipple discharge (if you are not pregnant or breastfeeding), which may have blood in it
- Change in the shape or look of your nipple, such as it turning inwards (inverted nipple) or a rash on it (may look like eczema)
- Pain in your breast or armpit, which does not go away – breast pain that comes and goes is usually not a symptom of breast cancer
In an interview with CNN in 2024, Ananda shared the devastating news that her breast cancer had advanced to stage 4 after she initially refused to undergo a mastectomy as part of her treatment. She explained that they wanted her to have a double mastectomy, but it was something she “was not ready for”.
Instead, Ananda opted to focus on making changes she had control over. The TV star said: “My plan at first was to get out the 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.
“Looking back on that, I go, ‘You know what? Maybe I should have [had a double mastectomy]’. My lymph system really flared up. It was the first time I ever had a conversation with death because I felt like, this is how it is.”
Ananda’s sister, Lakshmi, confirmed that Ananda passed away at 11:35am at her home in Los Angeles, where she was receiving hospice care. In tribute, Lakshmi shared an emotional post on Facebook which read: “She’s free and in His heavenly arms [heart emojis]. Lord, rest her soul [prayer hands emoji].”
Source: Mirror
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