(WJW) — A country singer has opened up about a recent cancer diagnosis.
In an interview with People, 33-year-old Jillian Cardarelli said her life has completely changed. Just a couple weeks ago, she was celebrating her five-year wedding anniversary and getting ready to start filming season 2 of the Great American Family show “Crossroad Springs,” when she was told she had breast cancer.
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The official diagnosis was reportedly stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma.
Jillian Cardarelli, of Haverhill, Mass., sings the national anthem before the start of an NHL hockey game between the Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)
Jillian Cardarelli arrives at the CMT Music Awards on Wednesday, June 5, 2019, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Sanford Myers)
ADVERTISEMENTJillian Cardarelli arrives at the CMT Music Awards on Sunday, April 2, 2023, at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
“I feel fear and sadness,” the singer/actor confessed to People. “I’m like, why did this happen? I do not fit the profile of somebody that should get cancer at 33 years old. So yes, there’s a little bit of anger there. But I’m not angry at God. I’m leaning on Him more than ever.”
The “Worth the Whiskey” singer had previously been told she had dense fibrous tissue but said she recently was feeling tired and she felt a lump. Cancer runs in her family — her mother has colon cancer –and so that’s what pushed her to go to the doctor.
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Now she wants her story to shine as a beacon for others.
“I do trust that something good will come from this. My hope is that women hear my story and understand the importance of knowing their bodies, trusting their instincts and advocating for themselves,” she told People, explaining that in some ways she still feels like the “luckiest girl alive.”
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