Sandra Lee revealed to Good Morning America Tuesday that she is battling breast cancer.
The Food Network star, Sandra Lee, said she was diagnosed with DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), a common noninvasive cancer contained within the milk ducts that can become invasive over time if left untreated. She said she was diagnosed after a routine mammogram.
According to People magazine, Sandra Lee will undergo a double mastectomy this week.
“Life can turn on a dime,” she told People about the diagnosis.
Although treatment is normally a lumpectomy followed by radiation or a mastectomy, Sandra Lee has chosen to undergo a double mastectomy because she did not want to go through six to eight weeks of daily radiation.
Sandra Lee, food network star and girlfriend of Gov. Cuomo, announces she has breast cancer http://t.co/vs9q2UjHRy pic.twitter.com/FZmedz91Mi
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) May 12, 2015
Sandra Lee, who had a mammogram before the recommended age of 50, said she also chose the more aggressive treatment partially out of fear of a recurrence.
“I never want to go through this again,” she said.
After her mammogram, Lee had a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis, and underwent testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2, the genes that increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
She tested negative, then consulted several doctors to help her make her choice of treatment.
Sandra Lee’s boyfriend of 10 years, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, will be by her side in the operating room.
“This is about her feeling secure and loved,” he told People.
Andrew Cuomo is taking "personal time" after girlfriend Sandra Lee's breast cancer diagnosis http://t.co/W55VTrUved pic.twitter.com/8VGZDKqZrh
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 12, 2015
“My doctor called me a poster girl for mammography,” Sandra Lee said.
The ordeal has taught the chef much and she says she plans to help others in the future.
“Girls in 20s and their 30s just have to know. And I don’t want women to wait. And that’s why I’m talking … If it saves one person, and makes one more person go get a mammogram, and if they’re sitting down right now watching this, don’t watch this TV. Go pick your phone up, and call your doctor and get your rear end in there and get a mammogram right now,” Sandra Lee told fellow cancer survivor Robin Roberts.
MT @MOREFOX5:
We're wishing the best for @FoodNetwork personality #SandraLee. http://t.co/HaboY9Gimo pic.twitter.com/OIIDUL53Nb
— FOX5 Las Vegas (@FOX5Vegas) May 12, 2015