Celebrity chef Shirley Chung has shared a positive update on her health nearly a year after being diagnosed with stage 4 tongue cancer.
Chung, who is known for her appearances on Bravo’s “Top Chef” and the Food Network’s “House of Knives,” among other cooking shows, was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma on May 30, 2024. She shared the news with her social media followers that July, revealing the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.
“The tumor was hidden on the bottom left of my tongue, and it was progressing so aggressively that in less than one week of the diagnosis, it took over almost my entire tongue,” she penned in her recent post.
Chung decided against undergoing surgery to completely remove her tongue. Instead, she and her husband, Jimmy Lee, shuttered their restaurant in Culver City, California, Ms. Chi Cafe, and moved to Illinois so the television personality could receive radiation and chemotherapy treatments at the University of Chicago.
“I completed nine weeks, 27 chemos, then 10 weeks 50 radiation and 24 hour chemo drip,” she recounted. “My first three month scans came back 98% cleared, only two of my left lymph nodes had cancer cells. I just completed my six month scans, I can proudly say, no cancer cell was detected in my body.”
Chung is still on the road to recovery. Although she is now able to consume solid meals, having had her feeding tube removed early last month, she must relearn how to speak.
“I need to continue to get tests and scans for two years, then I will be officially cured,” she wrote. “But I am feeling great, and can’t wait to get back to life!”
Chung, who immigrated to the United States from Beijing at age 17, concluded her update by expressing gratitude to those who supported her over the past year.
“In my cancer journey, so many of you reaching out, checking on me, digging me out when I was depressed. Your love, your prayers, your support carried me forward, helped me heal, helped me always see the light,” she wrote.
“2.0 is stronger because I am powered by all of your love. Sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will share details of my fighting journey in the next few weeks, and I hope it will help other cancer warriors, it’s time for me to pay it forward.”
