MacKenzie Porter on the Devastating Role Cancer Has Played in Her Life: ‘It Was Heavy for Us’ (Exclusive)

MacKenzie Porter was 20 years old when she found her first lump.

“I remember for a while I didn’t tell anyone just because I was just delusional,” Porter says during an exclusive interview with PEOPLE about her first breast cancer scare. “I didn’t want to think about it.”

And while the country singer soon discovered that the worrisome lump was actually benign — the fear that gripped her heart that day was very real and somewhat expected considering she grew up with cancer surrounding her.

“My grandmother had cancer all her life, so I did too very aware of it,” recalls Porter, now 33. “She had chemotherapy and radiation and dealt with the side effects of radiation all her life while I was growing up.”

MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge.

Bree Marie Fish

Certainly, at the time Porter says she doubted she could fully understand the depth of what the word ‘cancer’ even meant. “I was so little,” she says. “My parents and my family kind of protected us from that.”

But that shield disappeared the day Porter learned her own mother had been diagnosed with the disease.

“I was 14 years old at the time and that’s when it happened really really,” Porter recalls. “I look at photos from that time, and [my mom] looked like a completely different person than what she does now. She was very sick and I think everyone was definitely hiding how sick she was from us. Now as an adult, I can look back and realize how difficult that time was. It was tough for us, but it wasn’t as tough as it actually was for them.”

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Even today, the weight of a possible diagnosis rests on her own heart.

“I’ve done a bunch of genetic testing and I have a really high percentage chance [of being diagnosed with cancer] just because my mom had it, my aunt had it, my grandmother had it, my grandfather had it,” he says quietly. “It’s really part of my family.”

But so far so good.

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“I was doing screenings at least once a year if not more,” says Porter, who announced Thursday that she is pregnant with her first child with her husband, actor and musician Jake Etheridge. “I drank three [lumps] total, but all were benign. I actually remember the last time I had to have a biopsy, which is the furthest I’ve ever had to go. I stopped for a mammogram, an ultrasound or an MRI, but the last time they told me they were going for a biopsy, which was scary.”

She takes a deep breath.

“If the day ever comes that they find something, hopefully we find it so quickly that they can do something about it very quickly.”

MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge.

Bree Marie Fish

Granted, Porter admits she dreads going to checkups, even though she’s been spending more time in doctor’s offices lately than she expected.

“It’s something I’ve put off a few times just because I’d always tell myself I’d deal with it later,” Porter admits. “I think a lot of us do it because life is busy and we don’t want to receive bad news. But that’s the only good thing when you have other people in your life who have been through this. It motivates you and reminds you that all this else doesn’t matter if it doesn’t take care of your health.”

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And while Porter takes the necessary steps to ensure that she is healthy for the rest of her days, she also began looking for ways to inspire others to do the same.

“At one point I knew I wanted to do a big concert, doing something I love to also help the people I love,” says Porter, who now serves as an ambassador for the American Cancer Society.

And on Nov. 20, the concert she’s long dreamed of will finally happen, as Porter joins fellow country musicians Dustin Lynch, Nate Smith and Walker Hayes for the MacKenzie Porter + Friends Present: Country vs. Cancer in Nashville, and all proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society.

MacKenzie Porter Earth Against Cancer.

Courtesy of Big Loud Records

“[The concert] it’s going to be filled with a ton of my friends who are amazing country artists,” says Porter, who scored a multi-week No. 1 hit in 2021. 1 with Lynch on their single “Thinking ‘Bout You”. “I will say that every single person I’ve asked to participate has said they’ll come right away because they know how important this is.”

And while her grandparents have since died after battling cancer, Porter’s mother will be at the concert to cheer her on.

“My mom has been cancer-free for 10 or more years,” Porter says, adding that her aunt has also been cancer-free for the past 12 years. “It’s pretty amazing to see so many women around me who have gone through such a dark time and fought so hard to beat cancer. It’s just inspiring.”

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Source: HIS Education