Ananda Lewis, the beloved former MTV VJ, discuss present host, and tireless advocate, has handed away. She was 52.
The information was confirmed by her sister Lakshmi, who shared a heartfelt Fb submit saying her passing.
“She’s free, and in his heavenly arms,” she wrote with damaged coronary heart emojis. “Lord, relaxation her soul.”
Lakshmi has since confirmed the information to TMZ noting that Ananda died from stage 4 breast most cancers at 11:35 AM on Wednesday whereas in hospice at her Los Angeles residence.
Supply: Paul Archuleta / Getty
Lewis was a defining voice of a technology throughout her time at MTV within the late ‘90s and early 2000s, the place she labored as a correspondent on Whole Request Reside and MTV Information and lit up TV screens along with her smarts and signature appeal that gave Black ladies hope for a vivid future.
In 2001, she launched The Ananda Lewis Present, an empowering syndicated daytime discuss present, and in recent times, she was a passionate advocate for breast most cancers consciousness, significantly within the Black group, encouraging ladies to prioritize early detection.
She shared her breast most cancers prognosis in a 2020 Instagram submit, the place she defined her determination to keep away from mammograms for years as a consequence of considerations about radiation publicity.
“For a very very long time, I’ve refused mammograms, and that was a mistake,” mentioned Lewis on the time. “I watched my mother get mammograms for nearly 30 years, and on the finish of that, she had breast most cancers, and I mentioned, ‘Huh? Radiation publicity for years equals breast most cancers. Yeah, I’m going to move. Thanks anyway.’”
“If I had carried out the mammograms from the time they had been really helpful once I turned 40, they might’ve caught the tumor in my breast years earlier than I caught it by way of my very own self examination and thermography,” she continued. “And they might have caught it at a spot the place it was extra manageable. The place the therapy of it could have been a little bit simpler. It’s by no means straightforward, however I exploit that phrase compared to what I’m going by way of now. As an alternative, what I’m coping with is stage 3 breast most cancers that’s in my lymphs. I want you to get your mammograms.”
As beforehand reported, she later revealed that her breast most cancers had progressed to stage IV after initially selecting to not bear conventional remedies.
Recognized in 2019 with stage 3, Lewis opted out of a double mastectomy on the time, citing each private selection and restricted entry in the course of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
“The circumstances weren’t conducive to surgical procedure as a result of my tumor wasn’t aggressively rising on the time, after which COVID hit,” she informedThe Epoch Instances in October. As an alternative, she pursued cryoablation therapy in Arizona, which helped shrink her tumor.
Lewis informed the publication that she adopted a strict life-style, reducing out alcohol, white flour, and sugar, and spent almost $200,000 on varied remedies, together with insulin potentiation remedy (IPT), which she credited as extremely efficient. “If I knew what I do know now, I might’ve began with the IPT chemo instantly,” she mentioned earlier than noting that she had a community of “angels” who ensured she might proceed receiving care.
In 2023, her most cancers progressed to stage 4, spreading to her backbone, hips, and liver. Nonetheless, Lewis remained defiantly optimistic and deeply grounded in goal, particularly as a single mom to her son.
“I’ll have felt like I used to be dying in February, however I’m not dying, and I’m undoubtedly doing higher than I used to be final October,” she mentioned in one in every of her ultimate interviews. “I believe I’ll do higher than 5 years. I’m not dying anytime quickly. I plan to get an excellent 20 extra years out of this physique.”
Lewis is survived by her 14-year-old son, who Ananda’s sister mentioned graduated at this time from center faculty.
