In March 2022, Mama June Shannon, known by her stage name as “Mama June” was concerned about her oldest daughter Anna (Chickadee) Cardwell when she went to the hospital for back pain treatment in August of that same year and they removed a cyst from her spine. Shortly after the surgery, Anna 28, became very ill and was diagnosed with “a very rare and aggressive” form of cancer revealed as adrenal carcinoma.
Since her diagnosis, Anna has gone through four rounds of chemotherapy. June Shannon said “She’s actually doing pretty good,” and Anna’s sister Laura (Pumpkin) Efird said “She’s handling it pretty good.” And “A lot of people thought that it was going to make her sick and stuff like that, (but) she’s able to bounce back pretty quick,” Efird added “She can still go to the grocery store, she can drive herself, she’s still able to take the kids to and from places.”
Stage 4 adrenal carcinoma is a terminal disease and there is no way back, a person can only try to get through it the best that they can.
Before treatment, the cancer had spread to Anna’s liver, kidney, and lung. After Anna’s fourth round of chemotherapy, she decided that would be her last as she felt it was not effective for her body and is still exploring other options.
Shannon admits that “There are days where I don’t know (whether) to scream, get mad, or be happy,” and “As her mom, we’ve had talks you don’t want to have with your child. We know what the endgame is, and we are prepared for that. You’re never prepared, but we know what could happen.” Anna has young children Kaitlyn 10 and Kylee 7. Kaitlyn knows that her mother is ill “I think she understands that Mommy is sick, and Mommy might not be here for a while,” and “She’s 10, but she’s a lot more mature than that because she’s been raised around older people.”
As for the future, Shannon says “She just wants to see how it’s going to go,” and “We don’t know what to expect because the cancer is very aggressive, and it grew from nothing to something huge on the left side of her body really fast.” Shannon added “For me, it’s an emotional rollercoaster sometimes. Mentally it’s always on my mind.” It can be difficult for all family members involved, but June Shannon said “She’s stage 4. She’s not going go into remission,” and continued, “We’ve all accepted that, so I just tell people one day at a time because you never know.”
We wish Anna and her family the best.
Photos Instagram, TLC
