A friend of Ananda Lewis has opened up about the final text message she received from the former MTV video jockey.
On Wednesday, Lewis’s sister posted on Facebook that her sister died, writing, “She’s free, and in His heavenly arms. Lord, rest her soul.” The announcement came after Lewis revealed in October 2024 that her breast cancer had spread and progressed to stage 4.
CNN correspondent Stephanie Elam joined Sara Sidner on the channel on Thursday to discuss their last interactions with Lewis.
“One thing I want everyone to know is that she was at peace with this decision,” Elam, 51, said about Lewis and her decision to refuse receiving a double-mastectomy. “She had come to grips with it.”
“We thought we had weeks and it turned out that it turned into days and it turned out it was just a matter of hours. It happened very quickly how things changed.”
Elam then proceeded to read Lewis’s final text message to her. “She texted me and said things had taken a different turn than she would have liked,” the CNN correspondent said. “This is part of the text she sent me: ‘You know my feelings on this. We all go. These bodies are on loan and must be returned. We come in love and choose to leave it with love as well.’”
She added: “And then she goes on to say, ‘I love you my wonderful lifelong bestie of besties.’”
Lewis had first revealed that she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2020. In her Instagram post, Lewis encouraged women to receive annual mammograms because she had avoided them due to a fear of radiation exposure.
Speaking with Elam and Sidner during a CNN round-table discussion in October 2024, she revealed her cancer had spread and progressed to stage 4. At the time, the former VJ also revealed why she decided to keep her tumor instead of undergoing a double mastectomy, which her doctors recommended.
“My plan at first was to get out excessive toxins in my body. I felt like my body is intelligent, I know that to be true. Our bodies are brilliantly made,” she told Elam and Sidner. “I decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way. Looking back on that, I go, ‘You know what? Maybe I should have.’”
According to the CNN segment, Lewis’s methods of treating her breast cancer included medication, radiation, and improving her sleep and diet.
On Thursday’s segment, Elam reflected on her friend’s holistic approach to treating her cancer, saying, “I love my girl, but she was hard-headed.”
“She wanted to do it her own way despite the fact that so many of us close to her wanted her to try the way that [Sara Sidner] did it. But this is what she wanted to do and she was totally at peace with it.”
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