Suzanne Somers Reveals Terrifying Cancer Misdiagnosis
Suzanne Somers beat cancer after being diagnosed in 2001, so one could imagine how horrified she was six years ago when doctors told her that her cancer was back. In the end, the diagnosis was false, but her health was still being threatened.
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"I ended up in the hospital for six days with a misdiagnosis of cancer," Somers, 68, told ET. "When they read the CAT scan they said, 'You have cancer everywhere. You have a mass on your lung and it's covering your whole liver, and you have so many masses in your chest we can't count them, and they're all tumors, and you have a blood clot, and you have pneumonia.'"
Somers found the news hard to believe due to her healthy lifestyle -- she eats all organic, exercises regularly and takes hormone replacement -- and she eventually discovered the true threat to her health.
She said she had been breathing in black mold hidden in a house that she and her husband Alan Hamel were renting.
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"When we went down to that room it was like Little Shop of Horrors," Somers said. "This leased house that we were living in -- there was an unfinished room downstairs where there was standing water and black mold. It was crawling up through the dry wall, like worms almost, into the air conditioning and heating ducts, and we were breathing it in for the four years. I got the fungus in my lung which can kill you."
She told ET that this experience help further fuel Somers' passion of helping people detoxify their lives. She includes many cleansing tips in her 25th book, Toxic: From Toxic to Not Sick. One suggestion? Try a three-day coconut oil cleanse.
"Virgin organic coconut oil, coconut oil is kind of magical," Somers said. "I don't sell it. I wish I did because I am so hot on it that I could probably make money. But it heals your intestines."
Somers also advises to get enough sleep.
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"I decided I would value sleep because up until that time, I'd go to bed at three o'clock and getting five hours of sleep maybe, which I now know is such a game changer and I value sleep," Somers said. "People say to me, 'Oh, it's so much work what you do.' I go, 'Yeah, but it's a lot more work to be sick.'"
However, this incredibly healthy lifestyle didn't help her this week's Dancing With the Stars competition. After a less-than-stellar performance during the Disney-themed night, the actress was eliminated.