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Former U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier Announces She Has Breast Cancer

Posted on by angelo

Former Congresswoman Jackie Speier attends the ribbon cutting of the new library and parks and recreation center on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, in South San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Jackie Speier, a former U.S. Congresswoman who represented California’s 14th Congressional District from 2008 to 2013, is battling breast cancer.

Originally from San Francisco, who was elected to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors in March, he made the news public via social media.

“I have some personal news that I want to share with you because we can all learn from it. I was just one of the 300,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer each year,” she posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) on July 4. “The good news is that the cancer was caught early and I had a successful lumpectomy on Tuesday.”

She shared her experience in hopes 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 another scheduled for June of this year. I almost didn’t go because of summer activities. Thank goodness I didn’t cancel,” she continued in her responses 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: be diligent with your own exams and don’t skip them.”

Speier’s announcement was met with a steady stream of well-wishes and gratitude from others on the X platform.

“Thank you for helping others by sharing your story, @RepSpeier. I wish you a speedy recovery from your surgery and many years of good health. It’s been almost 8 years since I was diagnosed with stage 3B breast cancer and I’m doing well,” posted @KayeSteinsapir.

“Jackie, I am so glad this was caught early. Thank you for sharing this news. I am expecting my follow-up mammogram later this month after a “not so good” mammogram last month. Your news gives me hope,” posted @newt50.

In addition to her time as a U.S. Congresswoman, Speier, a longtime member of the Democratic Party, is also known for being part of a 1978 fact-finding mission to investigate what was happening with Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple followers in Jonestown, Guyana in 1978. The team was ambushed by an armed group of Jones supporters, resulting in the deaths of five people and Speier being killed multiple times.