Sandra Lee has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The 48-year-old celebrity chef and TV personality shared the news on Tuesday's Good Morning America, telling Robin Roberts, a cancer survivor herself, that she plans to undergo a double mastectomy later this week.
Lee, who has been dating New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo since 2005, learned of her diagnosis on March 27, shortly after doing a photo shoot for People's "Most Beautiful" issue. "And I walked off the set, and 20 minutes later my doctor called and told me I had breast cancer," she said. "I didn't even cry, I was stunned...You know, and that's just how fast life turns. It turns on a dime."
Initially, Lee had a lumpectomy, but doctors "did not have clean margins," she explained. From there, Lee returned to her radiologist, who suggested she have daily radiation for six to eight weeks, as well as a mastectomy.
"And so I said, 'OK. If I'm going to have a mastectomy, am I supposed to just get one done?''" she recalled to Roberts on GMA. "Both the radiologist and the doctor said, 'You're a ticking time bomb.' And they both said, 'You need—I would just get them both done.'"
Before undergoing her double mastectomy, Lee said she's urging her siblings, nieces and other women to get screened—regardless of their age. Some groups recommend women start getting mammograms at 40, while others recommend waiting until 50.
"I'm 48 years old. I've got a couple years till 50," Lee said. "If I would have waited, I probably wouldn't even be sitting here."
"Girls in 20s and their 30s just have to know. And I don't want women to wait. And that's why I'm talking," she told Roberts. "If it saves one person, and makes one more person go get a mammogram, and if they're sitting down right now watching this, don't watch this TV. Go pick your phone up, and call your doctor and get your rear end in there and get a mammogram right now."
"You hear about it and it is always someone else. It's a friend that you sent flowers to and you wish well and that you watch every single day," she said. "But I never thought I would be dealing with this."
Fortunately, Lee's longtime love, Gov. Cuomo, has been "extremely supportive," she said. "He's going to be in the operating room with me."
Cuomo released a statement Tuesday praising Lee's decision to go public with her diagnosis, saying, "Sandy has bravely decided to speak openly about her illness in order to remind women of the potentially lifesaving power of early detection. I fully support her decision."
"A situation like this quickly puts life in the proper perspective and reminds one of what's truly important," noted the politician. "To that end, I expect to take some personal time because I want to be with Sandy to support her in any way I can as she handles the trauma of her operation and the pain of the recovery."
Our thoughts and prayers are with Lee and her loved ones.
—Additional reporting by Lindsay Good