On last week’s episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, viewers followed Kenya Moore through a series of medical tests she underwent to find out if the lump in her breast was cancerous. Fortunately, the biopsied tumors in her breasts were benign. Now she is opening up about her cancer scare.

RHOA Recap: Kenya’s Health Scare >>>

Kenya says that when she first found the lump in her breast, she was so scared of what the results of any tests might be that she avoided them altogether. She says by sharing her experience on RHOA, she hopes she will encourage viewers to make better decisions should they ever need to.

“Ultimately, I knew that it would help people,” she told Ebony. “I made a huge mistake when I first found out about my lump. I went and got checked out from my doctor’s orders and had my mammogram, but I had such a horrible experience that I didn’t come back for the results. I just got scared. I was by myself and didn’t tell anyone.”

Kenya said it was her aunt, who accompanied her to her appointment, who convinced her to get the biopsy.

“I wanted it to be authentic: I didn’t get the results before I did it on camera, so when my doctor told me what the news was, it was the first time I heard it, because I wanted the viewer to know what it’s like to actually go through it and know that it’s okay,” Kenya said. “That no matter what, it’s going to be okay. You just need to get early detection and early treatment because that’s what’s going to save lives.”

Kenya isn’t out of the woods just yet. She has to go to check-ups every six months to make sure the tumors aren’t growing or don’t progress into cancer.

“I was disappointed when none of my castmates reached out to me after learning of my ordeal when many viewers did,” Kenya wrote on her Bravo blog. “Whether or not I am your favorite or least favorite person, the bond that we all have is that we are women first. I’m a woman before I am any other identifying marker such as race, social status, popularity, occupation or religious background. I am a woman. I am a child of God and I am blessed. With that said, I beg all women to get a mammogram.”

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(Image and video courtesy of Bravo)

Gina Pusateri

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV