Victoria Jackson has come to terms with her diagnosis.
The former "Saturday Night Live" star revealed in an Instagram post on August 14 that her cancer has returned after her initial diagnosis of breast cancer in 2015. In an eight-minute video, she shared that her cancer is now inoperable. “They cannot operate and cut out the marble in my chest that is laying on my windpipe, and eventually would suffocate me to death,” Jackson explained.
She recounted how her doctors delivered the news on her 65th birthday, August 2. Remarkably, Jackson took the news with acceptance.
“I was like, ‘Oh, okay. That makes sense. How can you catch every molecule?’” she reflects, adding, “I’m not very good at science or math, but I always knew it could come back. I kind of forgot about it for nine years. I forgot I even had cancer.”
Jackson’s journey with cancer began in 2015, following a stand-up performance at Zanies Comedy Club in Nashville. She noticed a persistent cough and went to the hospital for tests. The diagnosis was stage 3C breast cancer, indicating the spread to more than ten lymph nodes near her armpit, collarbone, and breastbone. Her treatment at the time included chemotherapy.
"I didn’t really have nausea. It wasn’t so bad," she recalls, "But it's not like a picnic."
Although she is unsure whether her cancer went into remission after the initial treatment, Jackson is facing her current situation head-on. Now under the care of Vanderbilt’s Breast Center in Nashville, she has been on Palbociclib for over a week, a drug specifically designed to target breast cancer by inhibiting the proteins responsible for the growth and division of cancer cells, as reported by Cancer Research UK. Should Palbociclib prove ineffective, her doctors may consider radiation therapy, which can shrink tumors and kill cancer cells.
These treatments provide Jackson the opportunity to spend more time with her husband, Paul Wessell, her daughters Scarlet and Aubrey, and her grandchildren.
“My two daughters and my four grandchildren, they came over this weekend, and they asked me, ‘Are you sad? Are you scared?’ And I thought, ‘Well, I’m not sad. … Why am I not sad?’” she muses. “Because I’ve never missed anything in their childhoods. I’ve captured every moment of my daughters’ lives on video… and I haven’t missed a single thing with my grandchildren: tap recitals, acting shows, everything.”
Jackson finds solace in the fact that she has accomplished nearly every dream she has ever had, from having children to traveling to Paris. She also realized her dream of being on television, serving as a cast member on "SNL" for six seasons from 1986 to 1992, and gaining recognition for her memorable appearances on "Weekend Update" and her impersonations of celebrities like Roseanne Barr, Sally Struthers, and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
As for when her final moments arrive, Jackson says she will leave this world content.
“Whether I die at 65, 70, or 75, what difference does it make?” she reflects. “I’m so blessed to have had a long life and a wonderful life.”
The Quran - Chapter Al-Qalam : 50 - 52
Then his Lord chose him, making him one of the righteous.
The disbelievers would almost cut you down with their eyes when they hear ˹you recite˺ the Reminder,1 and say, “He is certainly a madman.”
But it is simply a reminder to the whole world.
