Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis Defends Decision to Forego Mastectomy: 'I Still Feel Like I Did the Right Thing'

Mar. 15, 2025

Ananda Lewisis sounding off on the backlash about her decisionnot to have the doctor-recommended surgeryfor Stage 3 breast cancer, saying, “You can’t spend your time wishing you did things differently. You will never live. I’m not going to spend time regretting.”

Lewis, who was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer early this year, came under fire this week after her round-table discussion withCNN’s Stephanie Elamand CNN anchorSara Sidner, where Lewis said she chose not to have a double mastectomy, despite doctor recommendations.

Ananda Lewis in 2019.Paul Archuleta/Getty

Paul Archuleta/Getty

“I decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way,” Lewis, whose cancer spread and is now Stage 4, said.

However, she told Rhymes, “I still feel like I did the right thing. I need women to learn from my mistakes. I need them to need them to learn from my victories.”

“Even if you die, you can be okay because everybody’s going to confront that at some point in their lives, so this is really much more about how you want to live.”

The formerTeen Summithost said, “My biggest mistake is the one I’ve shared from the beginning: not getting my mammograms.”

She added, “I still am on the fence about mammograms,” before amending her comment: “I’m gonna rephrase that. My biggest mistake was not staying on top of early detection. I could have used 3D ultrasound.”

Lewis shared that she tried “integrative” treatment, a mix of conventional and homeopathic methods, explaining, ”I’ve done chemotherapy but tiny micro amounts."

“I didn’t have surgery. I did make choices that I knew people were going to disagree with — people closest to me in my life disagreed with them when I was making them.”

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“It might have been a mistake for me not to have surgery. I don’t know,” Lewis said. “I’m not going to go back, repeat that. Where I’m at now I’m fine with, and so whatever mistakes I’ve made, I’m in a great place.”

“We all got to make our own choices,” she said. “I’m living with the consequences of mine.”

source: people.com