Nightwish singer Floor Jansen has revealed that she is battling breast cancer and is set to undergo surgery.
Jansen, who’s been the lead singer for the long-running Finnish power metal act since 2013, broke the news on Twitter earlier today, October 26th. In a letter to fans, she said that she hopes to get the tumor removed tomorrow and her prognosis is “very good.” She is also hopeful to still tour Europe with Nightwish in late November (tickets are available here).
Jansen wrote:
“A letter to you. Life comes in waves, with ups and downs.
I have had the joy of riding many highs, and I have shared these with you through social media and the many many shows worldwide throughout the many years of my career.
But now a new wave hit me. Not a good one. I have breast cancer. It was diagnosed a little over 2 weeks ago and I will have surgery tomorrow to remove the tumour. My prognosis is very good!!! It seems to be a non-aggressive cancer, which seems to not have spread. I will keep my breast. And I will be cancer free after this surgery, plus a local radiation treatment that will take place three months after this surgery, hopefully. We will know more after the surgery to see if this positive prognosis stands.
The word cancer is a shocker. All that you found important in life before this diagnosis changes radically within minutes. Now I just want to be healthy again. I want to see my daughter grow into a woman; I want to live! And the scariest part of this diagnosis is that I thought I was healthy! I didn’t feel the cancer, I didn’t know it was there until I, as a 40+ woman, went to a standard mammogram checkup. Something many countries offer, for free even for the lucky ones.
Had I not gone there, the tumour would have gone undetected. In a year from now this could have grown much bigger. The thought of that makes me share this story with you. A mammogram is lifesaving! It’s uncomfortable and you might think that you won’t have something in your breasts anyway but GO! And for the men reading this: remind your wife, girlfriend, mother, sister to go and get checked. Even without the luxury I as a western woman experience with free mammogram checkups: GO! Luckily, there are many organisations that offer information about self-detection if you do not have access or funds for a mammogram.