INSIDE EDITION spoke to former Dancing with the Stars host Samantha Harris about her battle with cancer.
TV personality Samantha Harris opened up to INSIDE EDITION’s Jim Moret up about her brave battle with cancer.
She said, “I wouldn't have known that I had cancer, probably for years.”
Watch Samantha's Interview with INSIDE EDITION
Last fall, the former Dancing with the Stars co-host discovered a lump in her right breast during a routine self-examination. She says she underwent a battery of tests and doctors told her she was fine.
She said, “My mammogram came out clear. Then, when I finally did see a breast cancer specialist and oncologist, the ultrasound, MRI, and needle biopsy all came out that it was not cancer.”
But she said she still didn't have peace of mind. Then, last March, her doctor decided to do a lumpectomy, just to make sure she was okay. That's when it was discovered that she has breast cancer. She had a double mastectomy.
Moret said, “You made the decision to have a bi-lateral mastectomy, which was not an easy decision to make.”
“With me it came down to numbers. I’m not a gambler. For me, I wanted the best percentage of success without recurrence,” she replied.
That operation has not ended the battle for this mom of two.
She said, “When I woke up in recovery and my surgeon was standing over me, he had this look of despair on his face. He shook his head and said, 'I am so sorry, I am absolutely shocked, the cancer had spread to your lymph nodes. I had to take out all of your lymph nodes.'”
Now, Harris is waiting for doctors to let her know if she needs chemotherapy.
She also said she was shocked to learn that former Good Morning America host Joan Lunden also has breast cancer, a fact revealed by Lunden on Tuesday.
Lunden said on Good Morning America, “You have breast cancer, learn everything you can about this and go into warrior mode.”
Harris’ reaction was, “I felt very much the same. You feel very helpless when you have a diagnosis of cancer.”
Moret asked, “What do you want women to know who may be experiencing this very same issue?”
“I walked around for four months with a lump that everyone, two doctors, said was nothing. That tests said wasn't cancer and it was, and I thought to myself, ‘If there is even just one woman who is walking around right now with a lump that she doesn't think is anything, who has had doctors or test said it's not cancer, unless she knows for certain, maybe my story can help,’” she said.
