The 61-year-old former supermodel admitted the sad health news to the Daily Mail Online, explaining she was diagnosed in early March after her doctor noticed a lump on her breast during a routine check-up.
“The doctor noticed it immediately. She said, ‘This doesn’t feel right.’ And she said, ‘We have to be real comprehensive with this and have it checked out’,” Janice explained.
“I’m always optimistic, 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.'”
Despite the implications of a cancer diagnosis, the American beauty remains hopeful.
Janice admitted that she refused to let her illness hold her back. In fact, she still hopes to marry her fiance Rocky Gerner later in the year.
Janice was a superstar model back in the eighties.
She may have a positive outlook, however, the controversial personality has admitted that her life has changed since receiving the news, explaining it’s like living in a “nightmarish dream.”
“It’s still quite shocking. Today I got very scared… I just get very scared but I am not gonna let that define me, the fear. I’m going to get through this, I’ll be just fine kiddo.”
Luckily, Janice has the full support of her hubby-to-be, who also happens to be a doctor.
“It’s a very calm carcinoma, ductal carcinoma, it’s quite responsive to treatment, one of the most common types, and they’ve caught it early. It’s a lot less worse news than the alternative,” he said frankly to the online news site.
Janice during her time on America’s Next Top Model.
Janice, who is her two children, Nathan, 28, and 22-year-old Savannah, is no stranger to cancer. She lost her mother, Jennie Marie Pietrzykoski, to the disease in 1995.
“I’ve lost both parents, my mother died of cancer, that was a very painful moment when I found out about my mother and it was very painful when I found out about my dad, even though we had our differences, died of a heart attack,” she added.
In spite of everything, the America’s Next Top Model star is still very much the same outlandish judge the world adored during her time on the show.
“Don’t feel sorry for me, this is not a pity party,” she laughed.
“I’m Janice Dickinson and I’m gonna stick around for a long, long time. You ain’t getting rid of me yet.”
With her future hubby, Dr Rocky Gerner.
