Jeanette Lee.Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage
The 50-year-oldannounced her terminal diagnosisof stage 4 ovarian cancer in February and recently spoke toSports Illustratedabout her diagnosis and battle, calling herself “incredibly stubborn” and assuring that she’s not going to stop fighting.
“In my mind, if I stay positive and active, I can will myself to live a little longer,” Lee told the outlet. “If this disease is telling me I’ll probably have less time than everyone else, I’d better make the most of it.”
As she perseveres, she explained that “the most annoying thing” is handling the many symptoms that come with her chemotherapy, including “chemo brain,” which theAmerican Cancer Societydefines as a decrease in mental sharpness.
Jeanette Lee/Instagram
“It’s like everything has really been taken from me. I’m just a shell. I’m still walking, but I’ve already lost what everyone on the planet knows me for: a world champion playing pool,” Lee said.
Jeanette Lee and her children.Go Fund Me
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A single mother to three girls — Savannah, 11, Chloe, 12, and Cheyenne, 17 — Lee said she struggled with telling her kids the first few days after learning of her diagnosis.
“Every time they laughed, I’d think, ‘How can I take that away from them?’ " Lee toldSI. “As soon as I told them [about my cancer], it became very quiet in the household. I kept saying, ‘I’m going to fight this.’ And they kept going, ‘Yes, I know, mommy.’ But they were crying. They were terrified.” They weren’t alone. “The fact that there’s a chance they could grow up without a mom is just mortifying.”
Jeanette Lee in 2011.Jason Kempin/Getty
Throughout her journey, however, Lee said the support she’s had from friends, family, and fans has been vital. She told the outlet that having cancer can feel like being “cooped up in a closet, dark and alone,” which she described as a “miserable existence.”
She added, “If it’s my time, it’s my time. But I have no fear of what I can control. I’m incredibly stubborn. And my love of my children far exceeds anything I can imagine.”
AGoFundMehas been created in Lee’s name, and its purpose is to “ensure that [her daughters] are appropriately cared for and can afford to go to college.”
source: people.com
