Wanda Sykes Undergoes Double Mastectomy

Wanda Sykes Undergoes Double Mastectomy:Wanda Sykes will appear on The Ellen DeGeneres show this Monday and shared a very serious bit of personal info with the talk show hostess: she underwent a double mastectomy after discovering that she had breast cancer during cosmetic surgery.The normally outspoken comic gets very somber in revealing her surgery. Well, not entirely somber, of course.Wanda Sykes turns serious,

talks bilateral mastectomy Wanda Sykes being outrageous -- that's expected. But for the actress-comedian to be solemn? That's rare. Even when the issue is personal.In this case, it was also health-related, when she admitted for the first time, to Ellen DeGeneres during an interview to air Monday on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," that earlier this year she had breast cancer and then elected to have a mastectomy."I had breast cancer," says Sykes, 47. "Yeah, I know it's scary."The cancer was found after she had undergone what was essentially a cosmetic procedure, to have a breast reduction.As part of cancer treatment, "I had the choice of, you can go back every three months and get it checked. Have a mammogram, MRI every three months just to see what it's doing. But, I'm not good at keeping on top of stuff. I'm sure I'm overdue for an oil change and a teeth cleaning already."On top of which, "I have a lot of breast cancer history on my mother's side of the family." This latter fact prompted Sykes to reach a dramatic decision, "to have a bilateral mastectomy," she says.