Samantha Harris Has Breast Cancer, Will Undergo Double Mastectomy Later This Month

"It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest," former Dancing With the Stars co-host says of the diagnosis

Samantha Harris is undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

In a routine self-examination last fall, she detected a lump in her right breast. A prior mammogram was clean, but sensing something was wrong, the TV host met with another specialist months later.

A needle biopsy, followed by a lumpectomy, revealed that the former Dancing with the Stars co-host had breast cancer. "It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest," the 40-year-old tells People.

The former E! News correspondent sought the opinions of three different specialists. In the end, Harris was advised to either get a double mastectomy or a less-radical second lumpectomy with radiation.

Harris chose to get a double mastectomy, which is scheduled for later this month. "I was sick of feeling the way that I did in the days after the diagnosis," she tells the mag. "I knew I needed to take control."

Once Harris made the call to have the double mastectomy, she admits, "I felt so much calmer."

Harris married Michael Hess in 2005. They are parents to daughters Josselyn, 6, and Hillary, 3.

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