Janice Dickinson revealed on Monday, March 28, that she is battling breast cancer.
The ’80s supermodel, 61, opened up to the Daily Mail about her diagnosis, which was discovered during a routine examination on March 12. At the time, Dickinson wasn’t feeling well and went to the doctor’s office for what she described as a minor stomach issue. It was during the checkup that her doctor discovered a tiny lump in her right breast, which led to an immediate mammogram and subsequent biopsy.
“The doctor noticed it immediately,” Dickinson recalled. “She said, ‘This doesn’t feel right.’ And she said, ‘We have to be real comprehensive with this and have it checked out.’ I’m always optimistic, initially when the doctor found the lump it hurt, it became quite painful when you touch it, that’s the point when I knew this is serious, when the doctor touched this little lump in my right breast, about the size of a pea, and I went ‘Bingo, I have cancer.'”
The former America’s Next Top Model judge said she’s mustered up courage for her family. “I became fearful for my two children [Savannah, 22, and Nathan, 28] my loving fiancé Rocky [Gerner], we have a grandson, aged 4, his name is baby Aby. I just thought they are gonna flip out,” she shared.
Dickinson was with Savannah when her diagnosis was confirmed as early stage ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). “My 22-year-old and I were out shopping when I got a call from Rocky telling me the doctor was trying to get hold of me, then the doctor called me and told me, ‘Yes, it’s positive for cancer.’ I just was really glad that my daughter Savannah — she likes to be called Savi — I was really glad Savi was with me at that moment because it was kind of an out-of-body experience.”
Despite her current health condition, Dickinson vows to get through it and marry her fiancé this summer. “It’s still quite shocking. Today I got very scared … I just get very scared and it hit me,” the reality star told the outlet. “But I am not gonna let that define me, the fear. I’m going to get through this, I’ll be just fine kiddo,” she said. “I don’t know what the doctors really told me because it goes in one ear out the other, that’s how I roll. I know that my fiancé is a doctor of the highest caliber, I have four specialists, I’ve been prodded and poked on the inside and out and I can tell you I’m very, very lucky.”
Dickinson’s journey will be documented on The Doctors starting April 6.
