Ananda Lewis is the latest Black celebrity to reveal that she has breast cancer. The former host of BET’s Teen Summit, who is facing stage 3 breast cancer, decided to share her story during October to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

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This is tough for me to share, but if just ONE woman decides to get her mammogram after watching this, what I’m going through will be worth it. ????PRACTICE EARLY DETECTION???? Share this with a woman you love. These 6 minutes could help save her life. ????I love you guys???? #breastcancerawarenessmonth #myjourney #breastcancer #getyourmammogram #earlydetection #savelives #fuckcancer #GodisGood #Allthetime #thetestisthetestimony #knowyourpower #alternativetherapies #stayfearless #igotthis #takecareofyourgirls #breasthealth #lovelife #joy #behappy #nomatterwhat

A post shared by Ananda Lewis (@imanandalewis) on Oct 1, 2020 at 7:04pm PDT

“I have been fighting to get cancer out of my body for almost two years,” Lewis said on Instagram Live. “That phrase ‘Don’t talk about it be about it,’ that’s been my life for almost two years and honestly there’s nothing any of you could have done so I apologize if you felt like I excluded you. It wasn’t personal, it was just something I needed."

The 47-year-old said she watched her mother get mammograms and refused to get it for herself because she was afraid of the radiation.

“If I had done the mammograms from the time they were recommended when I turned 40, they would’ve caught the tumor in my breast years before I caught it through my own self exam and thermography," she said. "And they would have caught it at a place where it was more manageable."

Lewis said the cancer isn't spreading like wildfire at this point, but she still has work to do.

"I have a 9-year-old I need to be here for," she said. "I have no intention on leaving him. I don’t want to leave my kids, my friends, my family. Hell I don’t want to leave myself. I like being here!”

Breast Cancer Month

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