Wasserman Schultz goes public with breast cancer battle

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has been battling breast cancer in the past year, the Florida congresswoman revealed this weekend.

Wasserman Schultz told the Miami Herald that she has undergone a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery in the past year. Although she has not had to undergo chemotherapy, Wasserman Schultz said she’s had to go through seven surgeries, including the removal of her ovaries the day after Election Day this past fall.

She explained that she had chosen to keep the battle quiet for the sake of her young children until now, when she will begin a national education campaign encouraging young women to educate themselves about the risks of the cancer and to conduct routine self-examinations. The campaign, the Herald reported, will target women between the ages of 15 and 39.

“I’m a very focused, methodical person, and I wasn’t going to let this beat me. I wasn’t going to let it interfere with my life,” she said. “What I realized through the year is, I thought I knew a lot about breast cancer but I really didn’t, and most young women don’t.”

“It just pains me to know that younger women, because they don’t know and because they’re blown off by physicians many times, and because they squeeze their eyes shut and hope that it’s nothing, that their death rate is much higher,” Wasserman Schultz added.

The Florida lawmaker will appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” tomorrow morning to discuss her breast cancer battle and kick off her education campaign.