Celebrity chef Sandra Lee revealed on Good Morning America on Tuesday that she was diagnosed with breast cancer six weeks ago. According to the 48-year-old Food Network host, the disease was thankfully detected early during a routine mammogram, and the cancer has not spread.
"I didn't even cry, I was stunned,” Lee said of hearing about the diagnosis. “You know, and that's just how fast life turns. It turns on a dime."
After a lumpectomy failed to remove all of the cancer, Lee is scheduled to undergo a mastectomy soon.
"And so I said, 'Okay. If I'm going to have a mastectomy, am I supposed to just get one done?' Both the radiologist and the doctor said, 'You're a ticking time bomb.' And they both said, 'You need — I would just get them both done,'" Lee continued.
The longtime live-in partner of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said her politician love has been there for her every step of the way.
“He was the next call after my sister,” she said. “He was stunned as I was. He'll be in the operating room with me. He's been extremely supportive.”
The TV personality is determined to fight this disease head-on.
“It beats up your body, and it beats you up emotionally. And it — I wasn't going to let it rob me from one day of happiness," she said.
She also wants to make sure that the rest of her family is being as safe as possible.
“My first focus is to get the surgery done and recover,” she said. “After that I'll be all over my sisters and nieces to get tested. I don't care that my niece is 23 years old.”
