Kelly Hyland has come forward with some frightening personal news.
Speaking to E! News on Tuesday, the former Dance Moms star explained that she lost a great deal of weight earlier this year and, as a result, booked herself a mammogram.
The result was jarring.
“It came back showing a mass,” Hyland told E!.
The TLC alum then confirmed her worst fears (“It was malignant”) and added that further testing revealed even more terrifying news:
She has invasive carcinoma grade 3, meaning that her breast cancer is extremely fast-moving.
“I went from clean results [via a previous test] to a malignant mass in eight months,” Hyland said. “I was shocked that it had grown that quickly and scared of the battle I knew I was about to face.”
Hyland was just in the news this spring due to the airing of a Dance Moms reunion special.
We learned through this program just why Hyland walked away from the series back on Season 4, as she and lead star Abby Lee Miller got into a physical altercation at one point in the studio.
“We look at her as an amazing mom who was fighting to do what we wanted,” daughter Paige told Entertainment Tonight a few weeks ago of how she felt in the wake of this fracas.
Now, sadly, Kelly is facing a very different kind of fight.
“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,” Hyland told E! of how she relayed the cancer information to children Paige, Brooke and Josh.
It “was a very hard conversation for all of us,” Kelly emphasized.
Hyland, meanwhile, says her former colleagues are also aware that she has this illness.
She hopes to keep things “as normal as possible” moving forward.
What does this mean, exactly?
Hyland will continue to tape her Dear Dance Mom… podcast with Maddie Ziegler and Kenzie Ziegler’s mother Melissa Gisoni; Nia Sioux’s mom Holly Frazier and Kendall Vertes’ mom Jill Vertes; along with her Back to the Barre podcast with Chloé Lukasiak’s mom Christi Lukasiak.
“They have been extremely supportive and are willing to film around my treatment schedule and how I’m feeling,” Kelly said of her longtime co-stars.
“I’m very lucky to have such great friends and a flexible job that allows me keep some normalcy during all of this.”
Hyland is on the second of six initial chemotherapy treatments, which will be followed by surgery, radiation and then 11 more treatments.
She has Paige’s upcoming wedding to look forward to as well; yes, Kelly very much plans to be there for the nuptials.
“I may not look or feel my best,” says Hyland. “But nothing is going to stop me from helping and watching my little girl walk down the aisle.”