Actress Kathryn Joosten, Mrs. McCluskey on “Desperate Housewives“, has revealed she was diagnosed with lung cancer less than two weeks ago but promises to do everything to fight it and be a survivor once again. The 69 year-old has already battled the same type of cancer in 2001.

“I’ve got a little hang-up here, but we’re going to handle it and move forward. I’m doing great,” Joosten said. “They [producers of the show] are totally supportive. I said, ‘If you want to put it in the story line, do it! Tell anybody you want, because the public’s going to know.’ “

Kathryn also wants to be an inspiration for others in her situation and talked to an audience of 600 people about surviving and living your dreams the day after she knew about the relapse.

“I felt like the legs had been pushed out from under me,” Joosten said of receiving the news. “I completely did not expect it, and was devastated. I was crying for nearly five days straight.”

The actress also wants to erase the stigma of lung cancer associated with smoking and the idea people suffering from lung cancer did it to themselves.

“The first thing everyone says is, ‘Did you smoke?’ Yeah, I smoked,” said Joosten. “I smoked because Betty Davis said it was very glamorous. I smoked because it was seen everywhere and done everywhere. I got addicted because the tobacco companies add additives to their tobacco to make it more addictive. I’m damned mad at all of them. But that stigma has to go away.”

Kathryn quit smoking when she was first diagnosed with lung cancer back in 2001. I think she can set an example for hopeless people suffering from the same thing and demonstrate it’s not too late to start caring about your health and quit smoking!

“No one deserves lung cancer.”

Kathryn Joosten Pictures

[images: wenn.com]