Those who grew up in the late 90s and watched MTV may remember former VJ Ananda Lewis. The 51-year-old revealed that her cancer has progressed to stage four after refusing a double mastectomy.
Lewis shared her health update with Stephanie Elam and Sara Sidner, who is also battling breast cancer, during a CNN sit-down discussion on Tuesday, October 15.
“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,” she 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 terms of the holistic healing approaches Lewis adopted over the past couple of years, she engaged in “aggressive homeopathic therapies” in addition to altering her diet and sleep habits. The VJ also received “traditional medication and radiation.” while Anada briefly saw improvements in her health, the cancer became pervasive and is now at stage 4.
“My lymph system really flared up. And so, all through my abdomen, all those lymphs were very flared up, my collar bone,” Lewis stated. “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.’”
The mother of one continued: “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.”
Some fans may recall that the former TV personality initially revealed she had cancer back in 2020. At the time, doctors recommended she get a mastectomy, which she refused. In terms of why the Teen Summit host refused the doctor’s recommendations, she explained during the CNN interview that she wanted to get treatment that would preserve her quality of life.
“There’s certain things I know I’m not gonna be OK with, and I know myself. I want to want to be here, and so, I had to do it a certain way, for me,” she said.
Lewis also admitted that avoiding mammograms for years due to fear of radiation was 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 year before I caught it through my own breast exam, self-exam, and thermography,” she stated. “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.”
Ananda has a son, Langston, who was born in 2011. She had him with Harry Smith, who is actor Will Smith’s brother. Back in 2020, she shared that Langstin was her motivation for fighting.
“I have a 9-year-old I need to be here for,” Lewis shared in an Instagram video. “I have no intention of leaving him,” the television personality says. “I don’t want to leave any of my kids.”