Sheryl Crow Celebrates 10 Years Of Being Cancer Free

Sheryl Crow was attending the #BlogHer16 exposition in Los Angeles on Friday when she took the opportunity to share that she has been cancer free for a decade and also offer her support to actress Shannen Doherty in her own struggle against cancer. Much like Doherty, Crow says that being diagnosed with cancer was an eye opener for her and that she took it as a wake up call, one which forced her to examine her life and change her diet and exercise habits.

Sheryl Crow Says Cancer Literally Redefined Her Life

Crow tells the story of being 44 years old and in fantastic health, until cancer threatened to take all of that away. While some view it as a figurative expression, the phrase that cancer forces one to redefine their life was true for Sheryl in a much more literal way, reports Entertainment Tonight. The musician took an unflattering look at her lifestyle and taught herself to do away with habits that weren’t benefiting her in any way. Crow adds that she had to learn to take better care of herself and that doing so included saying no to others.

“I was at the bottom of my totem pole, and it caught up to me,” Crow confessed.

“And I believe that was really my relationship to the physical aspect of cancer. It [also] redirected the story I was telling myself. That story, that when you’re raised by two parents in a loving home, that that’s what life is going to look like.”

Sheryl says that contracting cancer and fighting it meant more than just eliminating negative things from her life. She also started to go after the things she felt she was missing in life, which included being a mother. Sheryl chose to go the route of adoption and is now raising two sons, Wyatt, 9, and Levi, 6.

Sheryl Crow Admires Shannen Doherty For Raising Greater Awareness About Cancer

Crow’s experience with breast cancer led her to become more active in raising awareness about cancer, reports ET Canada, so the musician is especially proud to be promoting and using 3-D check technology for the early diagnosis of breast cancer. Sheryl says she’s awed by the technological advancements available for use in early detection of cancer, which is vital to arresting the disease before it can spread and cause even greater problems.

“In this particular 3-D mammography machine they are able to detect cancer 15 months earlier than they would be with just the conventional mammography machine so to me it’s just a great story, a great story of hope and I want to make sure that women know about it and know where to go to get this particular kind of mammography,” revealed Sheryl Crow.

Also of inspiration to Ms. Crow is Shannen Doherty’s public struggle in fighting cancer. She admits that fighting the disease is a very scary experience, but adds that a woman like Doherty, who is brave enough to share her story, is really doing a great service to millions of young women throughout the world. Crow adds that many women, young mothers in particular, try to avoid learning about breast cancer, either out of fear or because they poorly insured or altogether uninsured.

“So I love women who are coming out and saying, ‘This is what I’ve done. I’ve been proactive and I’m celebrating my life,'” Sheryl says.

“It’s just really hard to imagine that 30 years ago, no one had spoken about having breast cancer until Betty Ford. When she came out and announced [she had it], it was very taboo and shocking. And now we can talk about it and it’s a part of our everyday life. Knowledge is power.”

Crow urges women not to miss or avoid their annual mammography, because that one test could mean the difference between life and death. Ms. Crow also made a point to share the news that Genius 3D technology is available all across the country, suggesting that all women should take advantage of these new early detection tests.

[Image by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images]