Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen has revealed in a personal post that she will soon be treated for breast cancer, and she's using social media as a platform to urge her followers to make sure to follow through with Mammogram checkups.
In her post, the singer reveals that she was diagnosed within the last two weeks and that she will be undergoing surgery to remove a tumor, with radiation treatment to follow three months after the surgery. That said, Jansen reveals, "My prognosis is very good!!! It seems to be a non-aggressive cancer, which seems to have not spread. I will keep my breast. And I will be cancer free after this surgery, plus a local radiation treatment that will take place three months after this surgery, hopefully."
The other key part to her post is Jansen sharing that this was something she might not have discovered had it not been for a Mammogram checkup, adding that she didn't thought she was healthy and "didn't feel the cancer." As such, she stressed the importance of checkups in maintaining one's personal health.
The singer also stated that should all go as planned, she will be back onstage for the start of Nightwish's touring on Nov. 20.
Check out Floor's full message below.
A letter to you,
Life comes in waves, with ups and downs.
I have had the joy of riding many highs, and i have shared these with you through social media and the many many shows worldwide throughout the many years of my career.
But now a new wave hit me. Not a good one. I have breast cancer. I was diagnosed a little over 2 weeks ago and I will have surgery tomorrow to remove the tumor. My prognosis is very good!!! It seems to be a non-aggressive cancer, which seems to not have spread. I will keep my breast. And I will be cancer free after this surgery, plus a local radiation treatment that will take place three months after this surgery, hopefully. We will know more after the surgery to see if this positive prognosis stands.
The word cancer is a shocker. All that you found important in life before this diagnosis changes radically within minutes. Now I just want to be healthy again. I want to see my daughter grow into a woman; I want to live! And the scariest part of this diagnosis is that I thought I was healthy! I didn't feel the cancer. I didn't know it was there until I, as a 40+ woman, went to a standard mammogram checkup. Something many countries offer, for free even for the lucky ones.
Had I not gone there, the tumor would have gone undetected. In a year from now this could have grown much bigger. The thought of that makes me share this story with you. A Mammogram is lifesaving! It's uncomfortable and you might think that you won't have something in your breasts anyway, but GO! And for the men reading this: remind your wife, girlfriend, mother, sister to go and get checked. Even without the luxury I was a western woman experience with free mammogram checkups: GO! Luckily, there are many organizations that offer information about self-detection if you do not have access or funds for a mammogram.
If I might inspire you to take good care of yourself, then something good will come out of this cancer diagnosis.
If all goes as planned, I will be up and running in time for the European tour with Nightwish, that will start on the 20th of November! And I am optimistic since my prognosis is good. I promise to take good care of myself.
I will be off the grid for a while to focus on myself.
As Floor stated, she expects to be back onstage for Nightwish's late 2022 touring. The trek starts Nov. 20 in Antwerp, Belgium. See all dates and get ticketing info here.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 287,850 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in 2022, according to their estimates. About 43,250 women are also estimated to die from breast cancer in 2022.
Breast cancer mainly occurs in middle-aged and older women. The median age at the time of breast cancer diagnosis is 62. This means half of the women who developed breast cancer are 62 years of age or younger when they are diagnosed. A very small number of women diagnosed with breast cancer are younger than 45.
To learn more about risk and prevention, programs and services, research and to get screening info, you can visit the American Cancer Society here or the European Breast Cancer Coalition here.
