Former “Top Model” Contestant Jael Strauss is Facing Incurable Cancer — But She’s Hopeful

“On October 2nd I was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer,” she wrote. “It has aggressively spread throughout my body and is incurable. With treatment it may prolong my life longer than the ‘few months’ doctors said I could make it.”

She concluded her post with “I don’t want to die.” Strauss has rapidly progressive metastatic inflammatory breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare and aggressive disease, which often causes the breast to look swollen and inflamed because cancer cells block lymph vessels in the breast skin, according to the National Cancer Institute. Strauss has started chemotherapy, according to a GoFundMe page created by her friends, but how her treatment will play out beyond that has yet to be determined.

Since she announced she has cancer, Strauss has been really open with friends and fans on social media about facing a sudden, and daunting diagnosis. “I exist closer to death than I have ever been, and I am scared,” she wrote in an Instagram caption on Oct. 10. “I really need your help – donations, kind words or support and prayers are completely welcome and absolutely needed.”

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