TV Chef Sandra Lee Shares Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Although the host of Food Network's Semi-Homemade Cooking With Sandra Lee is best known for teaching home cooks the quick and easy way to prepare food on the Food Network, she didn't use her Tuesday morning appearance on Good Morning America to promote her recipes. Instead, she made a very brave announcement. Sandra Lee was diagnosed with breast cancer six weeks ago, but there is good news: The cancer was caught early, and her treatment plan is already underway.

While talking to Robin Roberts, who is a breast cancer survivor herself, Lee revealed that she got the news after a photo shoot for People's Most Beautiful issue in March, and she quickly sprang into action. She has already had a lumpectomy, which means there's one more thing to do: a double mastectomy. As Lee told Roberts:

When the lumpectomy was done, they did not have clean margins. So I went back to my radiologist, and she said, "Well, here's the deal: You're gonna have to have six to eight weeks of radiation every day. You know what that is. So we suggest you have a mastectomy." So I said, "OK, if I'm gonna have a mastectomy, am I supposed to just get one done?" Both the doctor and the radiologist said, "You're a ticking time bomb." And they both said, "I would just get them both done."

And although Lee was emotional in her announcement, it's obvious that she's handling this as bravely as possible — and she's supported by her sister and her longtime boyfriend, New York governor Andrew Cuomo. She also took the opportunity to stress the fact that women need to have mammograms often, even if they're under 50, and that her diagnosis has pushed her to spread the message to other women that regardless of age, getting regular check ups is so important because her own cancer was found during a routine mammogram at age 48.

With Angelina Jolie's recent essay on her own measures to prevent cancer, there's been a rise in women in the spotlight coming forward to talking about the disease, and it's a truly amazing thing. The more we talk about it, the more people realize that mammograms aren't just a suggestion, but a necessity, and the more people are able to catch their cancer before it spreads and survive it. That sounds like exactly what Lee has done, and it's good to hear that she isn't letting this scary situation derail her from enjoying her life to the fullest.