Arizona's famous 'Thanksgiving Grandma,' Wanda Dench diagnosed with cancer
PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - Arizona grandmother Wanda Dench, famous for a friendship with Jamal Hinton after the two came together thanks to a text message sent to a wrong number, announced she had been diagnosed with breast cancer on Oct. 16 on social media.
"I'm 67 now, and I still have a life to live, and I - hopefully, fortunately, cross my fingers - [hope] everything works out well. I hope you know, to have a longer life," Dench revealed.
The Arizona grandmother, who now lives in Prescott Valley, says she had bronchitis earlier this year.
Doctors performed a CT scan to see if she had pneumonia - which she did not - but the scan showed she had a mass in her breast and doctors referred her to get a mammogram.
"I hadn't had one for a couple of years, so I went in and did that. And come to my surprise, I did have Stage 1 breast cancer," Wench said. "I turned 65 a couple of years ago and had decided I didn't think I needed mammograms anymore since it didn't run in my family, but lo and behold, it does."
Dench and Hinton have made headlines together for years.
She met Hinton in 2016 when he was 17 years old. She had messaged her grandson about Thanksgiving plans, but she texted the wrong number. Jamal got the message instead.
After the mix-up, he still accepted her invite to celebrate the holiday with her family in Mesa.
The two have shared Thanksgivings together ever since.
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Wanda lost her husband, Lonnie, to complications from COVID-19 back in 2020.
She shared the news about her cancer with Jamal.
"He was shocked when I told him, as well as my family members. He and his girlfriend, Mikaela, have been so supportive. He calls me on a regular basis just to check in and see how I'm doing and you know, boost my spirits and you know we have chats. It's just been awesome to have the support from Jamal," Wench said.
This afternoon, Jamal shared Wanda's diagnosis on social media.
Dench says she's undergoing chemotherapy and will start radiation last month.
"I was talking to Jamal the other day. We were talking about Thanksgiving, how we always get together for Thanksgiving, and I told him how wonderful people were around me that were helping me through this process and I wanted to give back, do something. And I've always been told to speak from my heart. So I thought about it, and what I realized, I wanted people to know, no matter how old you are, get your checkups," she encouraged.
As for Thanksgiving next month?
"We are definitely going to get together. We haven't finalized the plans yet. I will see whether I can travel down to the Phoenix area so that they can do the cooking in their kitchen. If I'm not up to it, then they will come up here and they can do the cooking in my kitchen."
