Camille Grammer: It's in Poor Taste to Question Anyone's Illness
Camille updates us on her life and talks about how going through cancer has shaped her views of others' illnesses.
It's been a while...since my last Bravo blog. A lot has happened in my life over the past few years.
In September of 2013, I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Endometrial Cancer. Luckily my cancer was caught at this stage. My treatment required surgery, chemo, and radiation therapy under the expert care of Pedro Ramirez at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. While I laid in my chemo bed, I said over and over to Dr. Ramirez, my nurses, and other caregivers, "We have to get the word out about these cancers! No one is talking about them and that needs to change." A year later an angel reached out to me via Twitter and asked if I would be interested as a spokesperson for the Foundation for Women's Cancer. Of course I said yes. Since then I've been honored and excited to serve as a spokesperson for the foundation and chairperson of the 2015 and the 2016 National Race to End Woman's Cancer. I am especially proud of my team, Camille's Crusaders, in garnering support from my friends, family, and even fans throughout the U.S. for the foundation's awareness, education, and research programs.
I am the third generation of women in my family to be struck with a gynecologic cancer. Because of this legacy, we have been genetically tested. I unfortunately tested positive for Lynch Syndrome, so I have been checked at least annually and sometimes twice a year.
My mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 47 and continues to fight her battle today. I am a two-year survivor of endometrial cancer.
Having been through my battle with cancer, I feel uncomfortable for Yolanda. Listening to the chatter questioning the validity of Yolanda's illness is troubling to me. Lyme disease is very debilitating. Being from the East Coast I know Lyme disease is quite common and may lay dormant and may produce flu-like symptoms, as well as neurological issues. It's in poor taste to question anyone's illness diagnosed through specific testing by their doctor. I pray that she finds a cure for her Lyme disease and starts feeling much better.
Today I took a break from packing up my house to write this blog. It's a bittersweet time in my life going through old photographs, writings, cards, and momentos that I have accumulated over the last 20 years living in my house here in Serra Retreat Malibu, California. I am sad to say I have sold the house my children grew up in but look forward to a new chapter in my life and new house. I have spent the last two weeks with movers, gathering personal items and organizing furniture for an estate sale. Time to leave the past for the history books and begin this fresh new start in creating new memories for my family. I have also been working hard renovating and designing my new home.
Cheers to new beginnings!
