“Dance Moms” alum Kelly Hyland revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer after finding a lump in her breast in late March.
After losing a “significant” amount of weight and making the concerning discovery, Hyland immediately booked herself a mammogram despite having “one done eight months prior” with the results coming back “clean.”
“However, this new mammogram and sonogram did not, it came back showing a mass,” the 53-year-old told E! News Wednesday.
A biopsy confirmed the mass was “malignant” and she was diagnosed with invasive carcinoma stage 1, grade 3, meaning the cancer is very fast-moving.
“I was shocked that it had grown that quickly and scared of the battle I knew I was about to face,” she explained.
After getting the results, the former reality TV star shared the heartbreaking news with her three children — Brooke, 26, Josh, 25, and Paige, 23 — all of whom lived over 1,000 miles away in Pittsburgh.
“I would’ve liked to have told them in person but a phone call was the best I could do given the circumstances,” Hyland, who lives in Florida, explained. “I did a four-way call with all of my kids because I wanted to tell them at the same time and make sure they were all given the same information.”
“[It] was a very hard conversation for all of us,” she added.
However, before even speaking to her mom, Paige “had an instant gut feeling something was off.”
“As soon as she told us the bad news, I felt like I was in shock and then quickly hit with a whirlwind of emotions,” Paige recalled. “Not only was I scared, I was angry, sad, and confused why this would happen to someone as amazing as my mother.”
Paige and Brooke, who both starred on the hit Lifetime series, noted that they lost their maternal grandmother to cancer a few years ago and knew their mom had “a very long and challenging road” ahead.
“She is the strongest woman I know and I am confident that she will come out on top of this and I will be there every step of the way,” Brooke said. “She has so much love and support in her corner!”
Although Josh was admittedly “speechless and scared” when he first heard the news, he has since taken a more positive approach.
“I feel very hopeful that it is only at stage 1, I feel like she caught it quickly,” he said. “I know my mom is strong enough to get through this.”
Hyland is currently on the second of six initial chemotherapy treatments, which will be followed by surgery, radiation and then 11 more treatments.
The mother of three’s “main caretaker” has been her older sister, Carrie Matarazzo, whom she has been living with while receiving treatments in Pittsburgh.
Since Hyland’s children also live in Pennsylvania, the group takes turns bringing the reality TV star to her hours-long chemotherapy treatments.
“They are very long appointments,” Kelly said of the roughly 10-hour sessions. “So I don’t want to put that responsibility on just one person.”
Along with the support of her family, Hyland’s former “Dance Moms” co-stars have also “been extremely supportive” during the trying time.
“I’m very lucky to have such great friends and a flexible job that allows me keep some normalcy during all of this,” the podcast host said.
