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UPDATE (March 30 – 6:15 pm ET): Honey Boo Boo has confirmed the sad news of Chickadee’s cancer diagnosis, after TMZ first reported it on March 29. “& this is what I mean when I say you never truly know what somebody is going through at home,” she wrote via Instagram stories on Thursday. “No matter how famous they are. Yes, I’m very famous but normal sh*** happens to me and my family & y’all need to realize that asap.”
Mama June’s eldest daughter, Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, has been diagnosed with stage 4 adrenal carcinoma, according to PEOPLE and TMZ. The sites have both confirmed that Chickadee received her diagnosis in January after complaining of stomach aches. The cancer has reportedly been found in her lungs, kidney and liver. HollywoodLife has reached out for confirmation, but has not heard back.
Chickadee is just 28 years old. She reportedly underwent her first chemotherapy treatment back in January. In mid-February, before news of her diagnosis was made public, Chickadee was in attendance for her mother’s wedding to Justin Stroud in Florida. All three of her sisters were also there (Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird and Jessica “Chubbs” Shannon). It was the first time that June was with her entire family since 2014.
The 28-year-old’s family is reportedly “very hopeful” that she’ll pull through amidst her diagnosis, according to TMZ. Chickadee has two daughters, Kaitlyn, 10, and Kylee, 7, born in 2012 and 2015, respectively. Her family has reportedly “pulled together” to care for the children during this trying time. TMZ also reports that Chickadee’s boyfriend, Eldrige, has been “by her side” throughout the process.
Chickadee has had a strained relationship with Mama June over the years. She moved out of her mother’s house in 2003 after being assaulted by June’s then-boyfriend, who is a registered sex offender. Chickadee moved back in with June in 2012 before the family began their reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. However, in a 2021 interview, she admitted that there was still tension between them.
“I’ve never had a conversation where she was like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry for what happened,’” Anna told The Sun. “It’s like she’s always brushing everything off and acting like everything is fine and nothing happened.” At the time, she also said that she’d “tried to communicate” with her mother, but never received a reply. “When we do see each other and talk, I feel like she tries to avoid me in a way,” Chickadee claimed. “I don’t try to force the relationship.” It’s unclear if things have gotten better since then.
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