Siwa Helps Cancer Fighters & Gets Support
- Singer and YouTube star JoJo Siwa, 18, recently launched her own cancer charity, JoJo Siwa Childhood Cancer Foundation, and was presented with a big donation by Meghan Trainor when Siwa guest-hosted Ellen.
- Siwa shared with her 11.3 million followers on Instagram, “This is something I've been wanting to create for YEARS. JoJo Siwa's Childhood Cancer Foundation is here. Throughout my years of being in the public eye I've met hundreds of kids and families affected by childhood cancer and every single one of them has a piece of my heart!…”
- Siwa’s former teacher, Abby Lee Miller, battled lymphoma, and Siwa’s grandmother passed from colon cancer in 2016.
When Siwa guest-hosted The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Trainor presented her with a $100,000 check for her foundation. Earlier this month, Siwa shared with her fans the news of her new charity, writing to her 11.3 million followers on Instagram, “This is something I've been wanting to create for YEARS. JoJo Siwa's Childhood Cancer Foundation is here. Throughout my years of being in the public eye I've met hundreds of kids and families affected by childhood cancer and every single one of them has a piece of my heart!…”
Read MoreView this post on InstagramShe continues, “…I've been working on creating this foundation to help make kids who have been diagnosed with cancer have a better life, I wanna re do hospital rooms, take them on trips to disney, surprise a whole pediatric hospital with new play rooms, anything to just see kids smile! I will also be using this foundation to donate to families affected by childhood cancer to help with costs of everything…This has been at least 3 years in the making. The link to donate is in my bio if you wanna help out.”
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Siwa is seen by many as a role model, and she also knows people like former teacher Abby Lee Miller affected by cancer; she’s showing the world what it looks like to give back in a powerful way and build something of value.
“It was really hard to watch someone that you love go through [colon cancer].”
Siwa’s grandma, Kathy Lombardi, was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer, and Siwa spoke about it in 2016. She says it was the first cancer diagnosis “in someone that I know.” She says, “It was really hard to watch someone that you love go through that.”
Siwa shared in 2016 that the cancer was “really bad.” Lombardi passed away from colon cancer in 2016 at the young age of 62. She had been fighting her cancer for two years.
Siwa’s Teacher, Abby Lee Miller, Beat Lymphoma
In April 2018, Siwa’s former dancer teacher, Abby Lee Miller, was diagnosed with Burkitt Lymphoma, a form of rare and aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma. "This disease may affect the jaw, central nervous system, bowel, kidneys, ovaries, or other organs. Burkitt lymphoma may spread to the central nervous system (CNS)," according to Lymphoma.org.
Miller treated the disease and rebuilt her strength through physical therapy. In an earlier interview, Dr. Angela Wicker-Ramos spoke about the importance of physical therapy, saying, "Exercise improves your circulation, which improves wound-healing." After complications from spinal surgery, which Miller needed due to complications from her lymphoma, she began using an electric wheelchair.
Understanding Colon Cancer Detection
Siwa’s grandma passed away from colon cancer, and she was one of the approximately 104,270 new cases of colon cancer diagnosed in the U.S. each year. Common treatments for colon cancer include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.
Screening for colon cancer is done via colonoscopy which looks for polyps small, white, potentially pre-cancerous growths on the colon. 95% of polyps could turn into cancer. So, when one is detected during a colonoscopy, the doctor will send it to a lab to be examined as to whether or not it is precancerous.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends that people with an average risk of the disease meaning, no family history of colon cancer or no personal history of inflammatory bowel disease start regular screening at age 45.
Getting Cleaned Out for a Colonoscopy
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
