Doctors were left shocked after tests showed Alaskan Bush People matriarch Ami Brown is now cancer free — despite being quoted survival rates as low as three per cent.
The reality star, who had been battling advanced lung cancer, received the update about her health in her last check up at UCLA Medical Center on December 21 following months of gruelling treatment.
Billy said of the stunning diagnosis: “Doctors were as shocked as we were.”
However, Ami said she had a good feeling as she walked into the consultation room. The mom-of-seven — whose cancer had previously spread to her chest and back — said in an interview with People: “I was expecting great news. I could just feel it.”
After falling to as low as 77-lb, the Alaskan Bush People star now weighs 104-lb and has started to get her appetite back. However, she must get a scan every three months for the rest of her life to make sure the disease has not returned.
She said: “It’s going to be part of my life forever.”
Ami underwent painful courses of both radiation and chemotherapy treatment, which had made it extremely difficult for her to eat anything.
She said: “To take a sip of water just hurt so bad and I couldn’t eat anything. It progressed in strength, the hurting. I went from ice cream and mashed potatoes and stuff to nothing at all.” But she added: “Now I’m so hungry. I used to not be a big food person but now I am so appreciative of food.”
Ami and the rest of the Browns left their “Browntown” homestead in Alaska at the end of last season to move to the lower 48 so she could undergo treatment — and she said that despite going through dark times she never gave up hope.
She said: “Entering that road was so dark and I was fearful. You hear the words chemo and radiation and you’re staring down that dark road and I want other people to know that it’s petrifying but you need to keep a little light.
“I hope they can see that I made it through and that gives them hope. It’s very scary but I never gave up hope. You have to stay positive and keep God with you because he really does perform miracles.”
Ami also praised the people who looked after her and other patients during their treatment, saying the offered so much “sincere love and hope”. She added: “God gave me a great gift in them.”
The improvement in Ami’s health was first revealed in the Alaskan Bush People Christmas special which aired back in December. The family have been planning to move to Colorado to set up a new permanent home, as was revealed at the end of last season.
It has not yet been confirmed whether there will be an Alaskan Bush People Season 8 — or indeed if there is whether the show will still be called Alaskan Bush People. However, the chances are definitely higher now that Ami has returned to health.