CNN anchor Sara Sidner shared the news about her stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis with a poignant and emotional reflection about life.
The “CNN News Central” co-anchor, 51, asked her viewers to “take a second to recall the names of eight women who you love and know in your life.” Sidner went on to note that, according to the American Cancer Society, statistically, out of those eight women, one of them will get or have breast cancer.
“I am that one in eight in my friend group,” Sidner shared. “I have never been sick a day in my life. I don’t smoke, I rarely drink, breast cancer does not run in my family, and yet here I am with stage 3 breast cancer.”
“It is hard to say out loud,” Sidner explained while choking up.
Sidner revealed that she is currently in her second month of chemo treatments and that her treatment plan includes undergoing radiation and a double mastectomy.
The American College of Surgeons classifies stage 3 as an invasive breast cancer that has spread beyond the region of the tumor.
The anchor explained that while stage 3 cancer is not a death sentence anymore for the vast majority of women, there is a reality to the diagnosis that “shocked” her when she first began to conduct her own research.
“If you happen to be a Black woman, you are 41 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than your white counterparts,” she explained, citing data from the American Cancer Society.
“So to all my sisters, Black and white and brown out there, please, for the love of God, get your mammograms every single year,” Sidner said. “Do your self-exams. Try to catch it before I did.”
Despite her situation, Sidner shared that she could have never predicted feeling grateful for her diagnosis.
“I have thanked cancer for choosing me. I’m learning that no matter what hell we go through in life, that I am still madly in love with this life,” she concluded. “And just being alive feels really different for me now. I am happier because I don’t stress about foolish little things that used to annoy me. And now, every single day that I breathe another breath, I can celebrate that I am still here with you.”
