‘Dancing With the Stars’ Alum Samantha Harris, 52, Says She’s Learned to Give Herself Grace While Trying to Lead a Healthy Life to Reduce Recurrence Risk

 

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“Where can I make small, easy‑step changes to really mitigate the harm? And bring that toxicity from maybe 70% or 40% down to as close to 10% toxic as possible — but never trying to achieve zero,” Harris told Fox News Digital.

“What I learned is when we’re trying for a 100% toxin‑free lifestyle, 100% of the time, we 100% fail. We need that wiggle room.”

She describes her approach as the “10% toxic method,” assessing every part of her life, which includes the air she breathes to her workouts, food, and personal products, and aiming to reduce unnecessary exposure where she can.

Harris, a mother of two, was diagnosed with breast cancer at 40, despite having a clear mammogram. Her path to a definitive diagnosis was far from straightforward.

“We can’t just sit back and ignore signs when our body, as mine was, was screaming at me,” she said.

“I had three doctors, after a clear mammogram over four months, tell me that the lump I found was nothing. They said, ‘No, Samantha, it’s nothing. We touched it, we felt it. It was nothing.’”

However, her intuition pushed her to keep seeking answers.

“That inner voice was screaming at me: ‘If this is truly nothing, how do we know unless we have more diagnostic testing?’ And I’ll be honest — all the diagnostic tests also came back saying it wasn’t cancer.”

Ultimately, a breast oncologist removed the mass, not expecting it to be a tumor.

“Thankfully, we found out it was Stage 2 invasive breast cancer,” Harris explained.

She treated her breast cancer with a bilateral mastectomy, also called a double mastectomy, which removes both breasts. After that, she underwent breast reconstructive surgery.

WATCH: What to consider before deciding on breast reconstruction.

During reconstruction, plastic surgeons can reconstruct your breasts with implants or with your tissue taken from some other place on your body, such as your back, your abdomen, or your inner thigh.

Harris’s cancer did spread to one lymph node, but doctors decided she didn’t need chemotherapy or radiation.

The mother of two has since been declared “cancer-free” with close monitoring for the rest of what doctors tell her is sure to be a long, healthy life.”

Managing Recurrence Risk

“Once a patient has finished his or her active therapy for breast cancer, we will often refer to that time as breast cancer survivorship,” says Dr. Erica Mayer, a breast cancer medical oncologist at Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

“This is a time when patients are still being actively monitored by their treatment team, not only to ensure that they remain healthy and cancer-free in the years ahead, but also to make sure that they have recovered from any side effects of their initial treatment, and that they are pursuing healthy behaviors for example, getting regular exercise, eating a healthy diet, and keeping up with all their other routine medical care.”

To reduce the chances of recurrence, patients are urged to:

Follow Your Treatment Guidelines.

“The best way to reduce your risk of recurrence with breast cancer is to follow treatment guidelines and complete the course of treatment that’s given,” says Dr. Elisa Port, a surgical oncologist specializing in breast cancer at Mount Sinai, to SurvivorNet.

“So the challenge is to work with every individual person to make sure we give her the best chance of getting through these treatments and enjoying the benefits of these treatments, which is the lowest rate of cancer coming back,” Port says.

Limit Alcohol.

Port says the other lifestyle factor that may increase one’s risk of breast cancer recurrence is heavy alcohol intake.

Eat a Healthy Diet and Exercise.

Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and medical advisor to SurvivorNet, notes that while exercise is well known for supporting weight loss, research shows it may also play a meaningful role in lowering breast cancer risk.

She explains that excess weight can create chronic inflammation in the body, and fat cells can produce estrogen — a hormone that, when present at high levels over a woman’s lifetime, can raise the likelihood of developing breast cancer.

Importantly, she emphasizes that physical activity doesn’t have to be extreme or strenuous to be beneficial. A light walk can also suffice.

“Exercise doesn’t have to mean suddenly training for a triathlon or doing something completely new,” Dr. Comen says.

For many patients, she adds, a cancer diagnosis can become a catalyst to prioritize their health and build sustainable habits that support their well‑being.

Maintain a Healthy Weight.

Dr. Sairah Ahmed, an associate professor in cancer medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet that staying as physically strong as possible can make a meaningful difference for people preparing to start treatment.

“The more physically fit you are going through your cancer treatment, the fewer side effects you’ll have and the faster you’ll get back to your normal quality of life,” she explains.

She also stresses that well‑being isn’t just about the body. Emotional resilience plays a major role for both patients and the people supporting them.

“Stress control is often something that isn’t talked about enough, but there is a lot of stress — for the patient going through cancer and for the family who has to support them,” she says.

Understanding Early-Stage Breast Cancer and What Comes Next

Early-stage breast cancer means the tumor is small and hasn’t spread to nearby lymph nodes. According to Dr. Comen, the first step is usually surgery to remove the cancer. This may involve a lumpectomy, where only the tumor and surrounding tissue are removed, often followed by radiation therapy to reduce the risk of recurrence.

However, treatment isn’t one-size-fits-all. Factors like age, tumor size, family history, and personal preference may influence whether radiation is needed or if a patient chooses a more aggressive approach, such as a mastectomy—removal of the entire breast. After surgery, a pathologist examines the tissue under a microscope to help determine the next steps in treatment.

WATCH: Understanding Early Stage Breast Cancer

Diagnostic testing plays a critical role in shaping your care plan. If a mammogram or clinical breast exam reveals something abnormal, your care team may recommend:

• Diagnostic mammogram and breast ultrasound to get a closer look at the breast and nearby lymph nodes
• MRI scans for additional imaging detail
• Biopsy of suspicious areas, including lymph nodes, to confirm cancer
• Tumor marker testing to identify hormone receptors and proteins that influence treatment options
• Additional imaging to check for any signs of metastatic disease

Once all this information is gathered, your cancer is staged—based on tumor size, lymph node involvement, and whether it has spread. Staging helps guide treatment decisions, while hormone receptor and protein marker tests reveal how the cancer behaves and which therapies may be most effective.

Your healthcare team will consider all of these factors—alongside your personal health, values, and goals—to create a treatment plan tailored to you.

Tips for Navigating Chemo Side Effects

When dealing with fatigue, doctors don’t have an arsenal of weapons to combat fatigue in terms of prescription medications. However, you can do several things to help minimize the hit and restore your energy.

• Exercise: While it may be counterintuitive, physical activity can help alleviate side effects, especially fatigue. “Although ovarian cancer is not common, we often draw upon the experience of patients with breast cancer and colon cancer, who have shown that physical activity can not only improve quality of life but may also have beneficial impacts on cancer outcomes,” Dr. Renata Urban, gynecologic oncologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, says.
• Eat well: Even though nausea may interfere with your ability to eat a healthy diet, it’s essential to ensure you’re eating appropriately, getting enough protein, and not losing weight. Not only will nourishing your body support your recovery, but it may also help you feel more energized.
• Sleep: Want to mitigate fatigue? Be sure to maintain your regular sleep-wake cycle while on treatment. Sticking to a set sleep schedule helps reduce fatigue by ensuring enough hours for your body to heal and restore itself each night. It may also help you recover more quickly by keeping energy levels high during the daytime.

Treating Neuropathy Symptoms

Doctors have several strategies for helping patients deal with this side effect. Once a patient begins experiencing the symptoms of neuropathy, they’ll be carefully monitored to make sure it doesn’t get worse. Before each chemotherapy infusion, the attending oncologist will assess whether the symptoms have progressed. If the symptoms worsen, they may adjust the dose or delay treatment. They may also try switching to another chemotherapy drug.

How to Get a Handle on Nausea

Most of these anti-nausea medications last for more than eight hours. One of the infusions commonly used reduces the degree of nausea for up to three days.

Complementary approaches may also be helpful. A few favorites:

• Ginger: Studies consistently show that ginger helps alleviate chemotherapy-induced nausea. The powerful herb appears to have an anti-spasmodic effect on the gut. Not a fan of raw ginger? Suck on ginger candy, sip ginger ale, or make a steaming cup of ginger tea.
• Pressure bracelets: at your local pharmacy, these bracelets provide consistent pressure on a particular acupressure point on the wrist to reduce nausea.
• Deep breathing: Moving air in and out of your lungs with a few deep breaths can help relieve nausea, particularly if you pair deep breathing exercises with meditation. It can also help you relax and release stress and anxiety.

WATCH: Managing chemo side effects.

Coping with Hair Loss

If losing your hair is a concern for you before cancer treatment, know you have options like wigs, hats, wraps, and scarves, among other things.

Another option that can minimize hair loss is cryotherapy, “just a fancy way of saying cold therapy,” Dr. Urban says.

Cryotherapy involves wearing cold caps or special cooling caps before, during, and after each chemotherapy treatment.

Regular Self-Exams Are Helpful In Between Mammograms

A self-breast exam is an easy way to monitor your breasts for abnormalities. It involves feeling the breast for swelling, bulging, or changes in the shape of the breast or nipple.

WATCH: How to perform a self-exam.

Checking for signs of redness, rashes, or discharge is also part of this exam. If anything is found that is concerning, you should contact your doctor. It’s important to note that self-exams should be done with regular mammograms.

Help Coping With a Breast Cancer Diagnosis

If you are facing a breast cancer diagnosis, your emotions are likely to run high, which is completely normal. Psychiatrist Dr. Lori Plutchik says emotions are often fluid when coping with a diagnosis.

“The patient or person going through the stressful event should accept that emotions will be fluid. You may feel fine one day and then feel a massive wave of stress the next. It’s also important for those you look to for support, whether that’s a therapist, friends, and family, or both, to understand the fluidity of stress-related emotions,” Dr. Plutchik said.

WATCH: How to cope with complex and changing emotions.

If a stressful event affects how you think and feel, it may be time to seek mental health treatment. This could mean traditional talk therapy, medication, changing lifestyle habits (like exercise and diet), seeking a support group, or many other approaches.

SurvivorNet experts suggest that women who need a little extra help coping with a breast cancer diagnosis.

• Let your family and close friends know, and let them help. So many cancer survivors tell us they want and need support, but are often too preoccupied to make specific requests. Urge those close to you to jump in with whatever practical help they can offer.
• Keep a journal. It can be extremely cathartic to let those feelings loose on paper. Grab a pen and a nice journal and chronicle your thoughts throughout the day.
• Join a cancer support group. Groups in nearly every community offer opportunities to connect with others going through a similar journey. You’ll learn constructive insight from others who can tell you what to expect and how to stay strong on tough days.
• Consider seeing a therapist. Ask your doctor to refer you to a therapist so you can discuss your fears and concerns in a safe space. Often, vocalizing your thoughts and feelings rather than internalizing them can provide relief.

Questions To Ask Your Doctor

If you have a breast cancer screening coming up or have recently had one, you may have questions you want answered. SurvivorNet suggests the following questions to kickstart your conversation with your doctor.

• Do I have dense breasts?
• Do I need to undergo additional or more sensitive screening?
• How is my risk level being assessed?

• Will insurance cover additional screening if needed?

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.