The comedienne opens up about illness on Ellen.
This Monday on the talk show Ellen, comedienne Wanda Sykes tells Ellen Degeneres how a decision earlier this year to have breast reduction surgery may have saved her life.
Sykes tells Degeneres that while lab work was being performed after her breast reduction, doctors discovered a stage zero cancer called DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ). The finding prompted her to opt for a bilateral mastectomy, or a double mastectomy, in an effort to head off any further development of the disease.
"Do you want to wait and not be as fortunate when it comes back and it's too late?" Sykes said. "I was very, very lucky. I had the choice of, you can go back every three months and get it checked. Have a mammogram, MRI every three months just to see what it's doing. But I'm not good at keeping on top of stuff. I'm sure I'm overdue for an oil change and a teeth cleaning already. I have a lot of breast cancer history on my mother's side of the family, which I didn't know about."
On why she kept quiet about her condition, The Curb Your Enthusiasm star joked to DeGeneres she didn't want to become the cancer "poster child."
Sykes is currently on a stand-up comedy tour and will perform at the New York Comedy Festival in November.
(Photo: NBC/Wenn.com)
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