Suzanne Whang, known for hosting and narrating the HGTV series “House Hunters” for almost a decade, has died after a 13-year breast cancer journey. Whang was 56 years old when she died, and as her partner, Jeff Vezain wrote in a Facebook post, “Suzanne breathed her last breath here at home, as I knelt beside her and caressed her."
Vezain went on to write, “I know she would prefer that her life be celebrated, as opposed to her passing mourned, but I also know how vehemently she disagreed with anyone being told, ‘Don't cry.’ So…cry if you will. I've been crying a LOT! And laughing…and everything in between. It's all part of life, but laughter was a staple of our dynamic. Her audacious sense of humor blessed many, shocked a few, but allowed us to laugh in the face of adversity. She was an amazing daughter, sister, friend, mentor and advocate.”
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In a post this past February, for instance, Whang shared a photo of her bare chest, in which a very tumor protruded between her breasts. “I have 3 tits now, and the tumor is bigger than both of my other tits combined!” she wrote, adding, “let’s all say Ta-Ta to the Third Tata!”
In another post, she shared a photo of herself smiling and waving, with googly eyes stuck to her tumor. A fan of hers reposted the photo on Twitter today to remember Whang, writing beneath it, “Suzanne Whang was able to see the humorous side of everything. After being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, she decorated her tumor with googly eyes, lashes, lips, & named it Felicia so she could say ‘Bye’ to it.”
Suzanne Whang was able to see the humorous side of everything. After being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, she decorated her tumor with googly eyes, lashes, lips, & named it Felicia so she could say "Bye" to it. pic.twitter.com/dMTNd65cb6
Eric Rosswood (@LGBT_Activist) September 20, 2019
The sad reality, of course, is that Whang was not truly able to say ‘Bye Felicia’ to her breast cancer tumor. The cancer took her life even after she went through extensive and comprehensive treatment, including, according to her February Facebook post, a regimen of targeted immunotherapy.
As Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a breast cancer oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a medical advisor to SurvivorNet explained in a previous conversation about immunotherapy for breast cancer treatment, “Immunotherapy is a very exciting area of research with breast cancer, [but] the complicated thing about breast cancer is there isn’t just one marker that the immune system can identify to attack,” reminding us that, while immunotherapy can lead to really miraculous results in some patients, every breast cancer is different, and not everyone has markers that work with immunotherapy.
RELATED: Is Immunotherapy Effective in Treating Breast Cancer?
Ultimately, it’s clear through the outpouring of support and memories that fans have shared on social media in the wake of Whang’s death that her personality and humor will survive for years to come.
And as for the humorous approach to her treatment, members of the SurvivorNet community — while they may not be going as far as to put googly eyes on their tumors — have often shared that they, too have found comfort in embracing humor during the toughest moments of their treatment.
One breast cancer survivor Jenny Saldana, for instance, told us that during her treatment, she wrote a comedic play about her cancer. “I’m a big, old ham,” she said. “I used to joke that, if it wasn’t for cancer, I’d be a horrible stand-up because my parents love me. So if it wasn’t for cancer I’d suck at comedy.”
RELATED: Jenny Saldana Found Humor in Her Cancer Journey, And Turned it into a "Dramedy"
Whether it’s comedy and humor or something completely different — be it dancing, singing, acting, painting, blogging, you name it — finding a way to hold on to whatever it is that brings you joy and helps you cope during cancer treatment is so important.
RELATED: What Still Brings You Joy? Your Emotional Health is So Important to Living with Cancer
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