Miranda McKeon, 19, Undergoes a Double Mastectomy to Treat Her Breast Cancer: 'So Grateful'

The Anne with an E star "will be cancer free" after the surgery, which she's undergoing after completing eight rounds of chemotherapy

miranda mckeon
Miranda McKeon. Photo: Patty Connelly Photography

Miranda McKeon is ready to tackle the next step in her breast cancer treatment process: a double mastectomy.

The 19-year-old Anne with an E star was diagnosed with breast cancer in mid-June, an extremely rare occurrence for a teenager, after she found a lump on her chest. In the months since, she's undergone eight weeks of intensive chemotherapy that left her "a bit bare," she wrote in an Instagram post reflecting on the experience.

On Wednesday, nearly a month after her last round of chemo, McKeon is set to have a double mastectomy, "the surgery that I've been anticipating for almost 5 months," she wrote in a new post.

"This will get rid of any cancer and significantly decrease my risk of reoccurrence in the future," she added. "This also means that 🥳I will be cancer free🥳!"

McKeon explained that after thoroughly researching her options with her mom, they decided she will have a sensation preserving mastectomy, meaning that "more care is taken when cutting nerves and nerve grafts are done to reconstruct cut nerves," and she'll retain feeling in her chest, unlike traditional mastectomies where the nerves aren't repaired.

"While it will certainly take a bit of time, I'm so grateful that I will return to looking and feeling like myself!" she said.

After the surgery, McKeon will begin radiation treatments to destroy any remaining cancer cells and reduce the chance of recurrence.

"As always, I can't thank everyone enough for their continued support," she said. "The people in my life show up for me each and everyday in ways that are so tender and heartwarming. I'm one lucky girl!!!!!!"

McKeon spoke with PEOPLE one month after her diagnosis and said that her goal with her treatment, other than stopping her cancer, was to "find the beauty in all of this."

"I wouldn't have chosen this, I didn't choose this, I don't think anyone would choose this," she said. "But I'm making it my job to try and pull something out of this."

RELATED VIDEO: Anne with an E's Miranda McKeon on Using Social Media as Therapy While Fighting Breast Cancer

One way she's doing that is by sharing her experience on her blog and on Instagram, where she has more than a million followers.

"It's so cathartic for me," she said. "My blog is the one thing that is super tangible that has come out of this where I'm like, 'Damn, this is awesome.' I'm hoping that by documenting a good majority of this, that someone else will be able to read it down the line when they need it and they can find comfort and healing through it in the way that I do writing it."

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