CNN Anchor Sara Sidner Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

CNN anchor Sara Sidner has revealed that she’s been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Speaking to PEOPLE, the journalist shared that she received the diagnosis last fall, following her visit to Israel to cover the war with Hamas. Sidner had gone in for a mammogram before leaving and was told that the results were concerning, which weighed on her as she reported on the mass destruction and violence in the Middle East.

“Seeing the kind of suffering going on where I was and seeing people still live through the worst thing that has ever happened to them with grace and kindness, I was blown away by their resilience,” Sidner, 51, told PEOPLE. “In some weird way, it helped me with my own perspective on what I am going to be facing.” Upon returning to the U.S., Sidner received a biopsy, which confirmed the diagnosis. “When I got the news, I didn’t tell anybody, not even my mother or husband or sisters or friends,” she recalls. “I just needed to process it.”

Sidner went on to confess that her initial reaction was a worst-case scenario. “The first thing I thought of was, ‘You better start writing letters to the people you love because you’re not going to be here,’” she said, growing tearful. “So I started writing one to my mom, who was struggling with her own health situation.”

Eventually, she began to experience a change in her perspective and eventually came to a new outlook. “I just made a decision. I’m like, ‘No, you’re going to live and you’re going to stop this and you’re going to do every single thing in your arsenal to survive this. Period.’ And I have been so much happier in my life since,” she said. “I mean happier than I was before cancer.”

Sidnet began treatment for cancer late last year, and confessed, “I am fatigued and I am slower, and I have to be more thoughtful about how I take care of myself.” She added of the experience, “Mentally, it has been 90% good for me because it’s just opened my eyes to how beautiful this life that we have is. I love my life now more than I can remember since probably 7 or 8. I really, truly feel grateful just to be here.” Sidner finally said that she doesn’t wake up stressed about life any longer, rather, she awakens “excited about whatever is coming, because I’m here.”