Former Survivor Contestant Sunday Burquest’s Friends Show Tremendous Support Following Her Unimaginable Double-Cancer Diagnosis

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Former ‘Survivor’ contestant and breast cancer survivor Sunday Burquest recently announced that she’d been diagnosed with both esophageal and ovarian cancer. The harrowing and unimaginable double-diagnosis came eight years after her battle with stage 3 breast cancer.

“You know how they say when it rains it pours? Well, it really poured on me today,” Burquest wrote, speaking to the new diagnosis in an Instagram video. “But I will say, I do know that I've already survived cancer once, and I will survive it again."

It wasn’t long before Burquest’s friends flocked to show their tremendous support for her diagnosis.

“Sunday Burquest begins her battle with metastatic esophageal cancer today,” ‘Survivor’ alum John Carroll wrote in an Instagram post. “Please keep Sunday and her family in your thoughts and prayers. She beat cancer once, so why not twice?”

Carroll’s supportive words were accompanied with a heartfelt video created to remind Burquest that her ‘Survivor’ family is with her — and will be every step of the way.

View this post on Instagram

Sunday Burquest begins her battle with metastatic esophageal cancer today. Please keep Sunday and her family in your thoughts and prayers. She beat cancer once, so why not twice? #survivor #esophagealcancerawareness #beatcancer
A post shared by John F Carroll (@thatjohncarroll) on Jun 10, 2020 at 12:30pm PDT

In addition to Carroll’s post, Burquest’s friend Qiying Lyu showed his support in an Instagram story in which he called Burquest “the greatest, strongest, and most supportive person in the world.”

“So sorry to hear such horrible news from you,” Lyu wrote. “You are a mother, you are a good person, you are a warrior! I believe you can overcome it … because you’re a SURVIVOR.”

Burquest re-shared these heart-warming messages on her own Instagram story, continuing to publicize her cancer journey in hopes of inspiring others to keep fighting.

What is Esophageal Cancer?

There are several different types of cancer of the esophagus, and Burquest did not specify which she was diagnosed with. According to the American Cancer Society, the disease is more common in American men. Of more than 18,000 cases of esophageal cancer expected to be diagnosed in 2020, about 14,000 of those will be male.

There are certain factors that may increase a person's risk of getting esophageal cancer smoking being the main one. Drinking alcohol, acid reflux disease and obesity have all also been linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. The American Cancer Society also notes that in some countries outside of the U.S., people who have contracted the human papillomavirus (HPV) are more likely to develop cancer of the esophagus though that doesn't seem to be the case in the U.S.

Esophageal cancer is rare, and often difficult to diagnose. For those reasons, there hasn't been a whole lot of progress in treating the disease in recent years. In a previous conversation about treating esophageal cancer, Dr. Raja Flores, Chairman of Thoracic Surgery at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, told SurvivorNet that the disease is often diagnosed in the later stages meaning, like Burquest's, the disease has already spread to distant parts of the body.

"Of [all the cases diagnosed in the U.S. per year], only about 1,000 get surgery, because the majority of them are identified at such a late stage," he said.

Because surgery is not often an option for patients with advanced esophageal cancer, chemotherapy and radiation may be given to try to keep the cancer under control for as long as possible. In some instances, immunotherapy may be used.