Jackie Speier – the previous U.S. Congresswoman who represented California’s 14th district from 2008 to 2013 – has breast cancer.
The San Franciscan native, who was elected to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors in March, made the news public via social media.
“I have personal news that I want to share with you because we can all learn from it. I just became one of 300,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer each year,” she posted on X (formerly generally known as Twitter) on July 4. “The good news is that it was caught early and I had a successful lumpectomy on Tuesday.”
She shared her experience within the hope of motivating other women to get screened for signs of breast cancer.
“Here's what happened: I had a mammogram in June 2023 and had an appointment for June of this year. I almost didn't go because of summer activities. Thank goodness I didn't cancel,” she continued in replies to her own original post. “I received excellent care from UCSF, surgeon Dr. Laura Esserman, radiologists Dr. Kimberly Ray and Dr. Alissa Price. The lesson here is, please be diligent in your own screenings and don't skip them.”
I actually have personal news that I need to share with you because we are able to all learn from it. I just became certainly one of 300,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer annually.
The excellent news is that it was discovered early and I had a successful lumpectomy on Tuesday.— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) July 4, 2024
Speier's announcement was greeted with a gentle stream of congratulations and thanks from others on the X platform.
“Thank you for helping others by sharing your story, @RepSpeier. Wishing you a speedy recovery from your surgery and many years of continued health. It's been almost 8 years since my diagnosis of stage 3B breast cancer, and I'm doing well,” posted @KayeSteinsapir.
“Jackie, I'm so glad it was caught so early. Thank you for sharing this news with us. I'm waiting for my follow-up mammogram later this month after last month's 'not so great'. Your news gives me hope,” posted @newt50.
In addition to her time as a U.S. Congresswoman, Speier, a long-time member of the Democratic Party, can be known for her participation in a 1978 commission of inquiry that was tasked with investigating the activities of Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple followers in Jonestown, Guyana. The team was ambushed by an armed group of Jones followers, leading to the deaths of 5 people and multiple shots fired at Speier.
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