WSB-TV Atlanta's Channel 2 anchor Fred Blankenship has been married to wife Paige Blankenship since 2004, and in their over 15 years of relationship have together tackled the ebbs and flows of life.
Along with being a mother and a professionally accomplished woman, Fred's wife is also a cancer survivor. Read through to know how Fred and Paige overcame the health obstacles in their lives and how their family relishes the little pleasures of life.
Fred Blankenship's Wife Got Diagnosed With Cancer When She Was 30
Fred Blankenship and Paige Blankenship had just started their married life on September 3, 2004, according to their anniversary post in 2020. Fred was 32 years of age at the time, and Paige was around 30.
Sadly, in the fall of 2005, the Blankenship couple was hit by upsetting news just a year into their marriage. Paige, who had just started a new job at Lifewellness Institute, a lifestyle medicine provider, to handle their marketing and client relations, went through a full-body physical at her job to know the product she was going to help sell.
Paige recounts her entire experience in a blog, where she goes into detail about her diagnosis and even shares a few tips to combat a deathly disease like cancer. She writes:
I was shocked as I drove home and faced the challenge of telling my husband that I had cancer.
During this physical, she found out that she had thyroid cancer, after which she opted for surgery to be done as soon as possible.
The doctors realized during the surgery that her cancer had spread from the left side of her thyroid to the right side and even into her lymph node system. Thus, her entire thyroid, as well as the lymph nodes in her neck and chest area, were removed.
Paige Was Positive Even During Her Cancer Treatment
“Cancer thrives in negative environments,” Paige noted in her blog. And she kept a positive outlook throughout her treatment.
Paige said that after the surgery and removal of the cancerous parts of her body, she took many months to recover physically but she was always the same mentally. She wrote, “About four weeks later, I had radiation in the form of a pill. It took several months before I started to feel like myself again in terms of energy, but my positive outlook never wavered.”
She added, talking about how she was scared but did not want the fear to rule her mind.
Of course, I was scared. I mean, who wouldn’t be scared at the age of 30 and being told, 'you have cancer'. But I didn’t want that to rule my attitude, my day, or my positive outlook on life. I continued, business as usual.
She Had Health Problems Even After Cancer Treatment
After Fred’s wife overcame cancer and returned back to being normal, or as normal as a person can be after such a horrible experience, the two started a family. As of now, Fred has three beautiful kids; two sons, Freddie and Jaden, and a daughter Layla.
The couple had all three of them before Paige reached eight years of being cancer-free. And she wanted to have another one and make her family a family of five, which she pens down in her personal blog. However, her health wouldn't let her do so.
At 38 years of age, she was longing to have a fourth child. During a routine checkup with her endocrinologist, she asked her doctor if she was too old to have another kid. The doctor said that she wasn't too old, but she should have a full-body checkup to see if she was in the right health condition to have another baby.
After a bunch of tests, it showed that her body had thyroid cells in her blood. But, since she should not have had thyroid cells inside her, the tests continued.
Thankfully, she did not have cancer again. However, she was diagnosed with a Splenic Artery Aneurysm (SAA). The doctors advised her against having a kid as that could put her and her baby's life in danger.
Her health problems hadn't completely gone away. In July 2015, four high-risk rare lesions were found in her right breast while having a mammogram. This had occurred because of all the radiation she endured in the past.
So, at the age of 40, Paige had to go through a double mastectomy with breast reconstruction in September 2015.
Paige and Fred Blankenship Continue To Enjoy Life At The Fullest
Even after everything she has gone through, she still maintains positivity and happiness around her. She is now living life to the fullest with her job as the Director of Marketing at Havener Capital partners LLC, three kids, and three dogs, who even have their own Instagram account.
Paige also likes to find happiness in the little perks of life, such as making lunch for her children. In a Twitter post, she expressed her exuberance over accomplishing things like helping her kids with their homework and preparing lunch for them.
Fred and his family celebrate various occasions together and his wife documents everything that goes on in their lives; from birthdays to anniversaries to holiday celebrations, on her Instagram.
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