Diem Brown's Brave Battle
People
Diem Brown's Brave Battle
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STRIKE TWO
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After beating ovarian cancer in her early 20s, MTV reality star Diem Brown was diagnosed with the disease again in 2012. The first time around, she'd had an ovary, several lymph nodes and part of her fallopian tube removed, and "didn't think ovarian cancer could come back," she tweeted at the time. "I know I will be fine," she added. "I beat cancer once amd I'm gonna do it again! I know God has a reason for every speed bump in life amd I'm ready."
LOOKING UP
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Brown put her positive outlook into words in June 2012, announcing she would blog for PEOPLE about her road to recovery. "I want to bring more awareness to ovarian cancer," she said. But "it's not just about cancer," it's about learning and adapting, too. "Everything bad that's ever happened in my life I've seen an outcome that's positive later on," she said.
ON MOTHERHOOD
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As she prepared for her second round of treatment, Brown visited the NYU fertility clinic in August 2012 to look into options for egg freezing and retrieval. "I want to be a mom, I want to have kids," she told PEOPLE. "Having a kid, to me, is more important than anything." Through two rounds of retrieval, she had 10 eggs to freeze. "I'm going to hold onto these feelings of elation throughout my next two phases (surgery and chemo)," she wrote. "I now have a happy spot to run to when I feel the world go dark."
LOSING IT
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After undergoing surgery in which doctors realized Brown's cancer had spread from her ovary to her fallopian tube in September 2012, the reality star began chemotherapy and documented one of the major side effects: hair loss. "It's a funny roller coaster," she wrote.
BALD IS BEAUTIFUL
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One of Brown's most dramatic moments came when she sat for a PEOPLE photoshoot with her newly-shorn head. "I didn't want the image to scream 'cancer' but instead wanted the image to scream strength, determination and for the images to deliver a cool confident vibe like I saw in Natalie Portman's shaved head pics," she explained. Of her initial hesitation to pose, she wrote, "Don't let your insecurities hold you back. We all have them and we all have the ability to push [them] to the ground and stomp them out."
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE
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Brown started 2013 on a scary note, with news that there was a spot on her liver. But test results showed no sign of cancer, and she celebrated. Though she considered herself in remission, it was impossible to say she was 100 percent cancer-free. But still, she was upbeat. "I am on fire with a passion that has never been more intense," she wrote. "I am not living in the fear of, 'What if they didn't get it all?' or, 'How do they know if there is no test I can do?' Instead I'm looking out in front of me, clean liver scan in hand, screaming, 'I'm done! Hello, you beautiful remission, you! Now let's go kick some booty because I'm free.'"
THE WORST NEWS
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While filming a new reality show abroad in August 2014, Brown, then 34, collapsed and was airlifted to New York, where she underwent emergency surgery. Doctors found a tumor blocking her colon, as well as others, and performed an emergency hysterectomy as well. "I felt empty ... gutted," she told PEOPLE of losing her uterus, deflating her hopes of having children of her own. "It's been a dark couple of days," she added of her colon cancer diagnosis, "but the outpouring of support has been tremendous. It's truly what will keep me fighting."
MOVING ON — AGAIN
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Brown left the hospital in September 2014 with the good news that two large masses had been removed, but the bad news that more cancer remained, including in her stomach lining — meaning more chemotherapy ahead. "What scares me most is thinking about how long the road is," she told PEOPLE. Although she had battled cancer twice before, "this one has kind of thrown me for a big loop, to realize how serious this is," she admitted. "I don't have any choice but to face it and fight it."
SHE'S A FIGHTER
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Sharing intimate photos from her time in the hospital with PEOPLE, Brown (pictured with her sister) also revealed that during the scare, her organs shut down and her heart stopped. "My doctor said, 'You don't understand. You're not supposed to look this way. You're so lucky, and someone's watching over you up there,'" she recalled. "Cancer has changed who I am. It sounds like a cliché, but I've only got this one life, and I need to live every day to the fullest. I'm a lot more appreciative of things now." Sadly, on Sept. 25 the star was hospitalized again after doctors discovered a blockage in her kidneys, delaying her latest round of chemotherapy.
ANOTHER BUMP IN THE ROAD
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Ahead of her Oct. 13 surgery to relieve pain in her kidneys, Brown received more bad news: The cancer in her stomach and colon had spread to her liver and lymph nodes, leading to even more surgeries — and more crippling pain. But the fighter kept fighting. "It's my personal perspective that you live as hard and as vigorously as you can," she told PEOPLE. "I'm going to have a family and get married and the whole American, 2? kids, white-picket fence dream. It's something that's really important to me, because it means a long-term future."
ONE TOUGH GIRL
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On Nov. 11, news broke that Brown had been hospitalized again as her battle raged on. That same day, her friend Alicia Quarles shared an Instagram photo of "Team Diem," a group of family and friends rallying together to support the star. "Toasting the strongest girl we know: #diemstrong #friendsarefamily," she wrote.
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
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On Nov. 14, Brown passed away at 34 years old. Friends and family had been gathering at her bedside at a New York City hospital that week as her condition worsened. Though the going was tough, Brown fought until the bitter end. "No matter what it is, you're going to have the bad days, but if you have hope throughout, you won, no matter what the results," she said in October. "Life is so beautiful."
Diem Brown Cancer: Photos, Quotes