This is an interview that first appeared in October 2009 with Leighanne Delco that not only touched on her porn career but also on her diagnosis and battle with breast cancer. I consider this to be one of the crowning moments of this blog, so it is with no small amount of pride that I re-present this Q & A in its entirety to help spotlight National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and hope that inspires more readers to take action to stamp out breast cancer once and for all.
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Leighanne Delco has to be considered one of the unlikeliest porn stars around. At an age when most women are sitting around playing bridge, she is hanging and banging with the best of them. She has appeared in Big Lovin 4 and 6 for Sensational Video and has modeled for various websites as well. But if you factor in that Leighanne is also a breast cancer survivor, you can really appreciate how far she has come in such a short time. Given that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I can't think of a better interview to feature here.
Don Carlos: Let's start out with some background info on you, Leighanne...where are you from originally?
Leighanne Delco: I grew up in So. El Monte, California
DC: Did you have a relatively quiet childhood?
LD: Not really as I had two older brothers and two older sisters, so there was always something going on around our house.
DC: Growing up, what did you imagine yourself doing?
LD: A teacher at a preschool.
DC: And you were always pretty healthy then?
LD: Yes, I was pretty healthy, except for the usual childhood illnesses.
DC: Ok, so take us through how you were first diagnosed with breast cancer.
LD: I had just gotten out of the shower, and was doing a self breast exam, I felt a lump and told my husband about it, he felt it and told me to make a appointment ASAP so I called my doctor the next day. They also felt it during the exam and ordered a mammogram, which I had already done but it didn't show up. So they ordered a ultrasound and it did show several shadows. My doctor called me and he told me he needed to talk to me so I went to his office and told me, "you have breast cancer and we need to do a biopsy right away..."
DC: What was your initial reaction?
LD: I was scared, of course...I knew they were talking to me but I really couldn't hear them. I guess you can say I was in shock because I don't remember driving home or calling my Mom and my husband or anything else. I only remember the word "cancer".
DC: What kinds of options did your doctor present to you?
LD: I don't remember them giving me any options, other than the surgeries at first. I had the first biopsy in April of 2003 and they removed 4 lumps and they were sent to be tested, and then went back two weeks later to have the other 4 removed. They ranged in sizes from peas to small walnuts (funny how doctors describe sizes) from the underside of my left breast. They also said they were going to remove some lymph nodes from under my arm to have them checked (just a few..lol they removed 26) and of those 26 they found that the cancer had spread to some of the nodes closest to my breast. The options were radiation and maybe chemo.... I was then scheduled for radiation after a three week recovery. I had roughly 48 treatments of radiation, which began in May 2003 (it took me longer to drive to the doctor than the actual treatment...lol). As the last of the treatments were approaching, I had another doctor's appointment with my oncologists and she told me that after talking with her colleges, they decided that I should have at least 4 treatments of chemo and told me that I could lose my hair and if I did it could come back a different color, or curly, or straight, it all depended on the person. They also said it could start to fall out after one treatment or after the fourth; again, it all depended on the person.
DC: Were you pretty confident that you would be able to overcome the disease?
LD: At first, no. no one is since it is a scary thing to be told you have CANCER, but as the weeks went on I had more and more confidence I would beat it. I had my husband (then fiance) behind me 100% and my family and friends as my support wagon. When I was down, I always had a friend that would cheer me up and my husband always told me how beautiful I was, no matter what. That meant more to me that anything else knowing he was there by my side no matter what the outcome would have been.
DC: How long have you been in remission?
LD: As of October 31, I will have been in remission for 7 years.
DC: That's wonderful...do you have any special regiment you follow to keep the cancer from coming back?
LD: Not really, only the pills the doctor has me taking for the next 5 yrs and then another for the next 5 yrs. So I guess you can say only what the doctor ordered...lol
DC: Were you nervous about how your condition would affect your lifestyle?
LD: I was at first, but then I had found that there are women who lost one or both breasts and it didn't change their lifestyle. It only made them stronger and I think I became a bit more stronger and a bit more adventurous as well.
DC: Is that what gave you the courage to go into the adult business?
LD: I don't really think it gave me the courage...I think it made me want to try more things in life be more adventurous as I now feel like if I beat cancer I can try anything I want to and either I will bomb or succeed.
DC: Did you run into any reluctance from any companies to hire you because of what you went through?
LD: Yes I did, as some said I was too uneven or I looked odd and people wouldn't buy it.
DC: How about reactions from your co-stars?
LD: It didn't seem to bother them at all.. most of them thought it was awesome that I wanted to get into the industry and really encouraged me. They even helped me cover it by holding their hands over the scar during filming, but not one refused to work with me because of what I went through.
DC: Is there anything you can't do physically on cam?
LD: I can not hold my arms over my head for any length of time as it hurts and pulls.
DC: So what kind of feedback do you get from your fans?
LD: I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from the fans who have seen my DVDs and I have gotten some negative feedback as well, but I really don't let the negativity bother me at all.
DC: Do you see yourself expanding more into the business, like a website for example?
LD: I have thought about a website, but just never followed through. I've heard good and bad things about them... maybe in the future I will consider it.
DC: What has been the most rewarding part of this whole experience for you?
LD: I have met a lot of awesome people and people who you can trust and a few people who are only in it for money and don't care who gets hurt while doing it; those are the strange ones. But I have definitely learned who to trust and who not to trust.
DC: One last question for you: what side of the family did those sparklingly bright blue eyes come from? LOL
LD: I would have to say from my Dad's side...maybe being Dutch, French and Irish didn't hurt either LOL.
DC: Thank you so much for your time, Leighanne...your story really is an inspiration and I appreciate you sharing it with us.
LD: You're welcome and thank you for taking the time to tell my story. I really hope it will inspire other women as well.
If you want to know more about breast cancer and what you can do to help the effort to cure it, click
here to go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation's website.