Wanda Sykes Had Breast Cancer, Is Also Awesome

There’s something magical about Wanda Sykes, isn’t there? I went through this period when I was probably 12 or 13 where I was obsessed with her. I watched that Chris Rock movie she was in, Down to Earth, all the time, and I remember some TV show she was on around that period that I loved. I thought she was the funniest, and when I saw Evan Almighty, which I also loved (and apparently I was the only one), I was so excited to see her. I think she’s just the bee’s knees, I really do.

Anyway, Wanda’s going to be on Ellen this coming Monday, and she discusses her secret encounter with breast cancer:

The comedian revealed in an interview on Ellen, airing Monday, that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in February and underwent a double mastectomy, saying she didn’t want to take any chances of a recurrence.

“It sounds scary upfront, but what do you want?” Sykes said matter-of-factly.

And, the way she tells it anyway, the story of how her cancer was discovered is quite the hoot.

“I was having a breast reduction, actually,” Sykes told Ellen DeGeneres.

“I had real big boobs, and I just got tired of knocking over stuff. Every time I eat…Oh, lord. I’d carry a Tide stick everywhere I go. My back was sore, so it was time to have a reduction. It wasn’t until after the reduction that, in the lab work, the pathology, that they found that I had DCIS [ductal carcinoma in situ] in my left breast.

“I was very, very lucky,” she continued, “because DCIS is basically stage zero cancer. So I was very lucky. But cancer is cancer. 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.”

Instead, she opted for a bilateral mastectomy.

“Do you want to wait and not be as fortunate when it comes back and it’s too late?” Sykes said.

Wanda also said that she hasn’t mentioned this before because she didn’t want to be a poster girl for another cause:

“How many things could I have? I’m black, then lesbian,” she explained jovially. “I can’t be the poster child for everything! At least with the LGBT issues we get a parade, we get a float, it’s a party. I was real hesitant about doing this because, I hate walking. I got a lot of walks coming up!”

How great is this lady?