Normaniis opening up about her “helpless” experience coming to terms with her mother Andrea Hamilton’s second breast cancer diagnosis.
In an op-ed forELLEmagazine, the 26-year-old singer, who is an American Cancer Society ambassador, reflected on her mother finding another lump on her breast in 2020, 19 years after first beating the disease.
“I was in Los Angeles when I found out my mom had been diagnosed with breast cancer again. My family was back in Houston. Three weeks earlier, when I was visiting my mom at home, she’d fallen into my arms expressing how scared she was,” Normani wrote. “She had a gut feeling about the results. I felt incredibly helpless because I wasn’t able to cure her.”
The “Wild Side” singer said her mom is an “incredibly independent and self-sufficient” woman, and “seeing her break down and not be able to function was really painful.”
American Cancer Society
Despite watching Hamilton’s difficult breast cancer journey, Normani said her mom’s diagnosis helped her understand the value of self-exams.
“I watched my mother find her own lumps both times she had breast cancer,” the former Fifth Harmony member wrote. “She taught me the importance of looking out for changes in your breasts and educated me on what mammograms were at an early age.”
According to theNational Cancer Institute, early detection of breast cancer through mammograms allows patients to get a head start on treatment, and can decrease the likelihood of it spreading.
Health officials also advise women of all ages to practice “breast self-awareness,” which means becoming familiar with how a person’s own breasts normally look and feel, so they will be more likely to recognize anything out of the ordinary when doing abreast self-examination.
“I also encourage anyone who has a family member with cancer to see that your family talks to a doctor about genetic testing,” Normani added in the op-ed. “We have taken these measures as a family. Knowledge is power, so whatever you don’t know, don’t be afraid to ask.”
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In August 2021, Normani celebrated her mother completing chemotherapy following her second diagnosis.
“MY MOM JUST HAD HER FINAL ROUND OF RADIATION. GLORY!!!!!” the singerannounced in an emotional message on Twitterat the time.
The artist first revealed thather mother’s breast cancer had returned19 years after she first battled the illness in October 2020.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me 🙏🏾 I did it once and I’ll do it again! #CancerWho,” Hamiltonwrote alongside a photoof a rosary.
“We got this mommy,” Normani wrote, reposting the story.
source: people.com
