Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's Great-Granddaughter Dies of Breast Cancer at Age 31

[TMC]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...212438995.html

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Sr.'s only great-granddaughter has died following a battle with stage 4 breast cancer. She was 31.

Desiree S. Anzalone died on Sept. 27 at Smilow Cancer Center in Connecticut, PEOPLE confirms.

Born Sept. 15, 1989 in Norwalk, Connecticut, Desiree was the daughter of Julia Arnaz and Mario Anzalone. Her maternal grandfather, Desi Arnaz Jr., was the son of late I love Lucy stars Desi Sr. and Ball. Desiree was the first great-grandchild of her famous grandparents.

Though her daughter died "peacefully," Julia, 51, tells PEOPLE that "watching her slip away was just, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. No mother should have to watch that."

"She was so special. All our children are special, but this little girl was something else," she adds. "We were [best friends]. We are still," Julia shares of her only child, who she calls "my mini me."

"She was so beautiful, just so so beautiful inside and out," Julia says. "She really, really reminded me a lot of my grandmother, more so than I."

Desiree was first diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer at the age of 25. After undergoing chemotherapy, she ultimately decided to get a double mastectomy. Although she was in remission for a period of time, she learned two years ago that her cancer had returned as stage 4 and had spread to her liver, lungs and bones.

"She probably would have been with us for a few more years — it was starting to spread a lot more, and the tumors were getting bigger — but we expected her to stay at least through the holidays. What went wrong is she kept getting fluid around her heart and then they kept doing surgeries and it would come back like two weeks later. And this time, they did the surgery and came back 12 hours later and [said], 'You've got days, if hours.' So that was really tough," Julia tells PEOPLE. "I was there before that happened. It was unimaginable."

Prior to her death Desiree, a photographer, was receiving hormonal chemotherapy.

She wanted to raise "awareness" for October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Julia says, and "to give awareness for young girls her age because this does happen. It's rare, but it does happen. And Desiree wanted to put awareness out for if you feel anything, just because you're a certain age doesn't mean that it can't happen to somebody."

Julia says that while Desiree "was a rare case," it "does happen."

"It's just not talked about a lot. It's usually people in their late 30s, 40s, 50s — not somebody at this age," Julia says. "So that was something that she really wanted — to help other women like her. A preventative, really."

The "first time" she was diagnosed with breast cancer, Desiree found out "right after her birthday, right before breast cancer awareness month. And second time around, stage 4, found out again three years later, right after her birthday, right before breast cancer awareness month. And then now, her final — going into God's kingdom — right after her birthday, right before breast cancer awareness month," Julia says. "So it's just odd how it happened every three years or so."

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the mother and daughter weren't able to spend as much time together in her final days.

"The COVID-19 kept us apart, so I wasn't able to see her as much as I usually do because she was compromised and I didn't want her getting sick in any kind of way," Julia explains. "So I wasn't able to spend as much time with her as I normally do because of the COVID since March. I mean, I saw her, but not as much; we'd hang out every day practically she was here. Plus, she lived with me for a while."

[Bonniegirl]

Originally Posted by TMC

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...212438995.html

Really sad ! So young ! May she rest in peace !

[OH Nuts!]

Very sad, So sorry to hear this. May she R.I.P.

[PracTz]

I hope Desi, Jr. will help console his daughter after the tragedy of his granddaughter's death!

BTW, Lucie Arnaz became a grandmother with the birth of her daughter Katharine Luckinbill Conner's son Jeffrey on May 28,2019.

[Yong Fang]

Of course, I know nothing of the life of this woman, but life is unfair. I live a fairly unhealthy lifestyle, way overweight, I smoke, I drink alcohol (to excess but not everyday), and I had a bad cocaine habit for several years in the 1990’s, almost 54 and still here.

There was a woman in my graduating class who died of some kind of cancer about two years ago. While again, I did not know her well, I knew she was a born again Christian as well as her husband, was very involved in church and she didn’t drink, smoke cigarettes or do drugs and was never remotely overweight.

You just don’t know. I hate death. I have had a lot of problems in life and with life but I like life for the most part and it is so short and so fleeting and then it’s over and we no longer exist. Forever.