A cancer diagnosis — whether it is your own or a friend or family member’s — is usually quite a shock. No matter how much you read about awareness and prevention, nothing can prepare you for actually getting the news.
Not everyone who is diagnosed with cancer is comfortable being open about their treatment and recovery — and that’s totally fine. A person’s health is personal, and we’re entitled to share as much (or as little) of it as we want.
And like so many other parts of life, when we’re faced with something scary and uncertain like a cancer diagnosis, it’s natural to want to read up on it. But sometimes you don’t necessarily want to learn about symptoms you may have missed or the long road to treatment ahead of you; sometimes you just want a kick-ass inspiring quote from someone else who has gone through it.
Enter celebrity cancer survivors. Sure, their treatment and recovery journeys might look different from the average person’s, given their social and financial position, but hearing about how they got through the tough times may be just what you need on an especially difficult day.
Here’s a roundup of quotes from everyone from Robin Roberts to Fran Drescher to Wanda Sykes to Julia Louis-Dreyfus. They’re insightful, sometimes funny and refreshingly honest. So pour yourself a cup of tea, settle in and take a look through some powerful words from inspiring women.
Hoda Kotb
"And even though I now consider myself about 90 percent, as far as feeling emotionally and physically recovered and body confident, I am not at 100 percent," Today cohost Hoda Kotb wrote in an article for the show's website. "Don’t get me wrong: I am very grateful for everything I have. I am fortunate to have had great doctors and to know that I am 6 years cancer free. I am happy about that. But I still pull and tug on things I wear, like bathing suits or when I’m wearing gym clothes. The actual scars are there… that’s forever a part of me."
Cynthia Nixon
"I want [women] most to hear me saying that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. So the only thing to really be afraid of is if you don't go get your mammograms, because there's some part of you that doesn't want to know, and that's the thing that's going to trip you up. That's the thing that could have a really bad endgame," actor Cynthia Nixon told ABC News.
Fran Drescher
"My mission is to enlighten people to a whole other way of thinking and approaching our health, which isn’t necessarily driven by big business profit or a brainwashing that these doctors have had since medical school of how you’re supposed to act with no radical thinking of asking other questions or considering that there’s another way to solve a problem," actor Fran Drescher told SheKnows. "For me, this word 'idiopathic' means that the idiots aren’t asking themselves the right questions of what is the cause."
Wanda Sykes
“We never hid anything from the kids. They were a huge part of my decision because I wanted to be around for them,” actor and comedian Wanda Sykes told People. “I feel whole again, I really do. I’ve told them, ‘Mommy’s boo-boo is much better now.’”
Christina Applegate
"I've never been one to pull the covers over my head. I have to push through things," actor Christina Applegate told Women's Health.
Joan Lunden
“There’s so much information on the internet and so much contradictory information that comes out that leaves people confused and frustrated,” veteran journalist Joan Lunden told SheKnows. “For women, starting with prevention, we have to be our own advocate.”
Robin Roberts
"Make your mess your message." Technically, this is something that journalist Robin Roberts' mother told her, but it was part of her keynote address at the espnW: Women + Sports Summit in 2016.
Edie Falco
"When the cancer went into remission, I was relieved, of course, but it was also strangely depressing," actor Edie Falco told Health. "As long as you're showing up at a cancer hospital every week, you know someone has an eye on you. When they say 'OK, good luck,' it occurs to you you're really on your own, and its a bit nerve-racking."
Carly Simon
"This disease is practically epidemic," singer-songwriter Carly Simon said to the New York Daily News regarding breast cancer. "We need a lot more money for research. There's the feeling that if this were a man's disease it would have been licked already."
Sheryl Crow
"We really have to learn to be strong and feminine and put on your oxygen mask before anyone else's," singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow told the audience at the #BlogHer16 conference in Los Angeles.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
"One in eight women get breast cancer. Today, I'm the one," Emmy award-winning actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus wrote on Twitter announcing her diagnosis. "The good news is that I have the most glorious group of supportive and caring family and friends, and fantastic insurance through my union. The bad news is that not all women are so lucky, so let's fight all cancers and make universal health care a reality."
Olivia Newton-John
"Of course, it was scary," singer/actor Olivia Newton-John said to Closer Weekly on learning her breast cancer had come back a second time. "But the words that came to my mind were ‘This too shall pass!’ I just had to believe that I was going to be OK."
Kathy Bates
"Back in 2003, when I had ovarian cancer, my agent told me not to tell anyone about it," actor Kathy Bates told WebMD. "Even my gynecologist, whose husband worked in the business, warned that I shouldn't come out with it because of the stigma in Hollywood. So I was very careful. But then I saw Melissa Etheridge doing a concert and just wailing on her guitar with her bald head, and I thought, 'Wow, I wanna be her!' So when the breast cancer diagnosis came, I knew I wanted to be honest about it."
Shannen Doherty
“The unknown is always the scariest part," actor Shannen Doherty said on Entertainment Tonight. "‘Is the chemo going to work? Is the radiation going to work? You know, am I going to have to go through this again, or am I going to get secondary cancer?’ Everything else is manageable. Pain is manageable. You know living without a breast is manageable. It’s the worry of your future and how your future is going to affect the people that you love.”
Sharon Osbourne
"This is about being informed," TV personality Sharon Osbourne told USA Today on the importance of early detection for colon cancer. "There is nothing to be embarrassed about and you have to go and be checked. You can save your own life."
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