Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is Already Looking Forward to Next Thanksgiving When Hopefully He Can Celebrate His Wife, Casey DeSantis, 41, 'Kicking Cancer to the Curb'

"It does make a difference. It increases your spirits, it gives you a kind of more of a will to fight, and I've seen that up close and personal firsthand. So thank you for your thoughts. Thank you for your well wishes."

Watch the governor’s speech here:

The governor adds that while this Thanksgiving wasn't exactly the holiday their family envisioned at the beginning of 2021, "I'm confident that we're on the road to you know, next Thanksgiving we'll be able to celebrate a lot of great things, but one of which will be my wife kicking cancer to the curb."

Related: Casey DeSantis, 41, Wife of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

Casey DeSantis' Breast Cancer Battle

Gov. DeSantis publicly announced in October that his wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The family has not shared the type and stage of her breast cancer.

"I am saddened to report that Florida's esteemed First Lady and my beloved wife has been diagnosed with breast cancer," Gov. DeSantis said in a prepared statement. "As the mother of three young children, Casey is the centerpiece of our family and has made an impact on the lives of countless Floridians through her initiatives as First Lady."

Aggressive Breast Cancer in Young Women

Casey is just 41 years old. That's relatively young to receive a breast cancer diagnosis, considering organizations like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Cancer Society recommend women start getting yearly mammograms when they turn 45 years old. Women ages 45 to 54 should get a mammogram every year.

Breast cancer mostly occurs in older women, but it's possible for women under the age of 45 like Casey to be diagnosed. About 9% of all new breast cancer cases in the U.S. are found in women younger than 45.

But in some ways, a diagnosis for a younger woman can often be even more devastating, Dr. Ann Partridge, an oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, tells SurvivorNet during a previous interview. This is because the cancer is likely to be a more aggressive form of the disease and at an advanced stage, as screening for younger women is not standard.

Related: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Says 'There's Good Days and Bad Days' About Breast Cancer Battle of Wife, Casey DeSantis, 41

Talking About Your Cancer During Thanksgiving Dinner

Whether you're the one with cancer, or your loved one has cancer, there's a valuable lesson to be learned here when navigating the holiday season.

As a cancer patient, how do you navigate when your loved one wants to talk about your cancer? And as a loved one, how do you know when the person with cancer wants to, or doesn't want to talk about it?

The Holiday Season Can Create Challenges for Cancer Patients. Here's How to Navigate the Frenzy.

"When talking to loved ones about your preferences and discussing your cancer journey during the holidays, it's important that you be your authentic self," Dr. Marianna Strongin, a licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Strong In Therapy Psychology, tells SurvivorNet. "So rather than telling people exactly what you want, it's important to share why you want that."

"When we are our most authentic self and disclose our true feelings, the people around us feel us. So if you aren't feeling comfortable talking about your cancer and you don't want it to be a part of the holiday season, tell them why that is. Tell them why talking about it would be so distressing for you."

If someone in your family like Casey DeSantis has cancer and makes it clear they don't want to talk about it, then you need to respect that. Everyone deals with having this disease in a different way some people want to talk about it, while others don't. And that's totally OK.

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