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Former Dancing With the Stars host Samantha Harris is recovering after a second breast cancer diagnosis in August 2024. The television personality is focusing on her health journey after previously battling the disease.
Samantha Harris Discusses Breast Cancer Recurrence
Harris, 51, who initially received a breast cancer diagnosis in 2014, shared with People in an interview published on Tuesday, April 1, her positive outlook. “I consider myself cancer-free,” she stated, expressing that she is feeling “well.”
Second Diagnosis Revealed
This update follows Harris’s disclosure seven months prior, when she announced her breast cancer recurrence despite being in remission. “Hello everyone. I have some unexpected health news to share, something I never anticipated experiencing again in my lifetime. I have a breast cancer recurrence,” Harris conveyed in an August 2024 Instagram video. “[We] detected it early. It is very early stage. It is in the identical location as my original breast cancer [diagnosis] a decade ago.”
Recovery Setback After Surgery
In her recent interview, Harris disclosed experiencing a “setback” in November following surgery to excise a cancerous tumor. She recounted being on mandatory bed rest for 10 days before engaging in walking.
Walking Exertion Impacted Recovery
“For most individuals, that would imply a short stroll to the end of their street and back,” she explained to the publication. “I undertook two consecutive days of [approximately] one hour of walking, believing I was maintaining a slow pace — however, for my body, that still constituted a considerably rapid pace.”
Harris elaborated that the two days of exertion resulted in a “red” and “inflamed” surgical site, prompting fears that she had reversed her progress. “I immediately grew concerned that I had essentially negated the benefits of the surgery and initial 10 days of recuperation and now worried about a potential infection or implant rejection,” she admitted. “I was uncertain about the cause. Consequently, the emotional rollercoaster ensued once more.”
Focusing on Long-Term Health
As Harris continues her recuperation, she added, “the current objective is to ensure my body does not become susceptible to circulating tumor cells settling in a host organ.”
Support System and Returning to Normalcy
Harris noted that her husband, Michael Hess, and their two daughters, Josselyn, 17, and Hillary, 14, are instrumental in helping her establish a new sense of normalcy. “You aim to return to normalcy, or whatever the revised normal constitutes,” she expressed. “And if this can be a fleeting memory for our daughters, it would bring me immense joy.”