Janice Dickinson Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Janice Dickinson (Photo: Getty Images)

Janice Dickinson was just going to the doctor for stomach pains when her doctor found a lump in her right breast.

“I’m always optimistic,” Dickinson said of the moment. “Initially when the doctor found the lump, it hurt. It became quite painful when you touch it. That’s the point when I knew this is serious — when the doctor touched this little lump in my right breast, about the size of a pea, and I went, ‘Bingo, I have cancer.’”

Dickinson revealed to Daily Mail that, following a mammogram and a biopsy, she’s been diagnosed with early stage ductal carcinoma in situ: the most common kind of breast cancer, which is, fortunately, highly treatable.

“It’s still quite shocking. Today I got very scared,” Dickinson said in the emotional interview. “I just get very scared, and it hit me. But I am not gonna let that define me, the fear. I’m going to get through this. I’ll be just fine, kiddo.”

Diagnosed only earlier this month, Dickinson said she’ll have a minor surgery soon and then will need radiation treatment and a course of medication that will likely last for the rest of her life. Her doctors have, at this point, ruled out a mastectomy.

The 61-year-old former supermodel says her fiancé, Dr. Robert Gerner, has been a great support to her.

Dr. Robert ‘Rocky’ Gerner and Janice Dickinson. (Photo: Getty Images)

Dickinson has previously battled with anorexia, bulimia, and alcoholism. She says she’s going public with this latest fight to raise awareness.

“I’m going to tell my truth. I’m doing this for women. I really want for this experience [to be] for women of all ages,” Dickinson said. “Have regular breast examinations please. Girls past 30, it’s very important.”

Related: Bill Cosby’s Fall From Grace: A Complete Timeline

Cancer is not Dickinson’s only battle at the moment. She’s also fighting her alleged rapist, Bill Cosby, in court. After going public with her story, that Cosby drugged and raped her in 1982 in Lake Tahoe, Nev., Dickinson has filed suit against Cosby, claiming he defamed her when he denied her accusations.