The cancer diagnosis of Mama June Shannon’s eldest daughter is being spoken about openly.
The actress Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, who costarred with her mother, 43, and sister Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson in TLC’s Toddlers & Tiaras and then Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, was given a stage 4 adrenal carcinoma cancer diagnosis in January.
After the cancer was found in her liver, kidney, and lung in March, a source informed TMZ, which broke the story, that Anna, 28, underwent her first round of chemotherapy.
In an interview with PEOPLE before the return of Mama June: Family Crisis, Shannon revealed that the diagnosis has left her “emotionally drained.”
Because of Anna, I don’t go live very much on TikTok. I’m already emotionally spent as a result of that,” she said. “I’m not using emotion to be nasty… That day, 5,000 people will be asking me about Anna, and I’m not emotionally or mentally prepared for that.
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Shannon gave an explanation for her recent lack of social media activity by saying that she is “not emotionally ready to deal with 5,000 people asking me about Anna that day.” Do you comprehend what I’m saying? I only had the strength to respond to them and not cry on TikTok for three hours while answering that question 100 times.
“You don’t know whether to scream,” she continued. You’re unsure of whether to laugh. You’re not sure if you should yell. You are unsure of who is at fault.
Shannon acknowledges that Cardwell finding out about her health is “mentally draining for her too,” but she also claims that her daughter has found solace on TikTok while receiving therapy.
“I know it’s mentally taxing for her too since you’re asking her that a hundred times. They are questioning her… In order to escape, she uses TikTok, although she also has 600–700 followers while dancing and acting silly. They adore Anna for that reason. That is really appealing to them. Thus, I’ll advise you to follow Anna. Go follow, just like on TikTok. She’s usually on there if she’s feeling well, according to Shannon.
Mother to Jessica “Chubbs” Shannon, 26, Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efrid, 23, and Alana Thompson, 17, is Mama June.
With daughters, Kaitlyn Elizabeth, born in 2012, and Kylee Madison, born in 2015 (the latter to her ex-husband Michael Cardwell, from whom she divorced in 2017 after three years of marriage), Anna is also a mother. Eldridge Toney, with whom Anna made her Instagram relationship official in April 2019, was the most recent person to be associated with her.
