American television hostess Samantha Harris has revealed that that she will undergo surgery for a double mastectomy to treat her breast cancer later this month.
The 40-year-old former "Dancing with the Stars" host first detected a lump in her right breast while self-examining herself. Although she previously had a mammogram that detected no lumps, she was certain of a change in her breast and visited a breast cancer specialist months later.
After undergoing a needle biopsy and then a lumpectomy, Harris was diagnosed with breast cancer.
"It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest," the former Dancing with the Stars co-host told People Magazine.
After gaining the opinions of three different specialists, she was given two treatment options to choose from. The first, a double mastectomy and the second, another lumpectomy with radiation, a treatment option less intense than a mastectomy.
"I was sick of feeling the way that I did in the days after the diagnosis," Harris said. "I knew I needed to take control."
Harris, who is a wife and mother of two, decided to educate herself to ensure she would make the best treatment option for herself and her family.
She explained that she had a tough time making a decision. Once she made up her mind and went with the double mastectomy, she said, "I felt so much calmer."
More of Samantha Harris' story will be available in the new issue of People Magazine, available this Friday.
