The reality stars are rallying around the eldest sibling as she undergoes treatment for stage 4 cancer
They’ve had their ups and downs, but the family of Anna ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell is rallying around the eldest sibling as she battles stage 4 adrenal carcinoma, following her diagnosis this past January.
“We literally show up. My mom and Justin in particular, they go to every single day of treatment,” Lauryn ‘Pumpkin’ Efird told about their mother, Mama June Shannon, 43, and her husband, Justin Stroud, 35.
The family shot to fame after sister Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson’s appearance on TLC’s Toddlers & Tiaras, who later earned a show of her own, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, chronicling the lives of Shannon and her four daughters, including Jessica “Chubbs” Shannon.
Anna, 28, and her mother were estranged for years, sharing public barbs — but reunited at June’s second wedding to Justin last February.
But now the Mama June: Family Crisis star and her husband are a key source of support for Anna, Lauryn tells , after the cancer was discovered in Anna’s liver, kidney and lung following a series of tests when Anna started complaining about stomach aches.
“One week a month they stay in an Airbnb with her, so she’s close to the hospital in case she has a reaction once she gets home and things like that,” says Lauryn, who has five children — including Alana, now 17, who she obtained full custody of last June.
And in May, June said she and Justin would be moving from Alabama to Georgia to help Cardwell through the chemotherapy process.
Lauryn tells that she and Alana make frequent trips to visit as well.
“For me and Alana, we come up usually one to two times a week, sit with her through treatment, talk to her and go back to the Airbnb and maybe do dinner and things with her,” says Lauryn, 23.
“And then when she’s home for the rest of the month, we all just try to check in and make sure she doesn’t need anything or isn’t feeling terrible.”
Anna, who’s mother to Kaitlyn, 11, and Kylee, 7, has also been sharing intermittent — and honest — updates on social media of her progress.