In a new interview with People, comedian Victoria Jackson shared the story of how she reacted when she found out her breast cancer had returned after nine years, and is now inoperable.
“I was like, ‘Oh, okay. Well, that makes sense.’ How can you catch every molecule?,’” she explained. “I’m not good in science or math, but I expected it could come back. I kind of forgot about it for nine years. I forgot I had cancer.”
Jackson, who was in the cast of Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1992, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, and went through chemotherapy to treat it. She told People that she wasn’t fully certain if her cancer had gone into remission afterward, but she’s back to taking treatments again.
This time around, the goal is not to cure her cancer, but to give her more time to spend with her friends and family.
The 65-year-old explained, “My two daughters and my four grandchildren, they came over this weekend, and they were like, ‘Are you sad? Are you scared?’ And I thought, ‘Well, I’m not sad. … ‘Why am I not sad?’ “Because I don’t miss anything in their childhoods. I video every day of my daughters’ lives… And I don’t miss one thing with my grandchildren: tap [dance] recitals, acting shows, ever.”
The SNL alum estimated on her Instagram page that she had about “34.8 months to live,” and explained the situation to her fans in an extended video. She described the cancer growth as being like a “marble ball,” and said her doctors “cannot operate and cut out the marble in my chest that is laying on my windpipe, and eventually would suffocate me to death.”
Jackson said that although she’s not thrilled about the recent news, she’s satisfied and happy with how her life has turned out.
“Whether I die at 65, 70 or 75, what’s the difference?” she said. “I’m so blessed to have had a long life and a wonderful life.”
