Elizabeth “Lizzy” Musi, a professional drag racer who starred in “Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings,” a spinoff of Discovery Channel’s street racing reality series “Street Outlaws,” has died following a year-long battle with breast cancer. She was 33.
“Thank you for all the prayers and support throughout her battle,” he wrote. “At this time, the family would like to have time to process, grief [sic] and make arrangements in peace. We will give an update as soon as we have information to share.”
Battle With Breast Cancer
On April 21, 2023, Ms. Musi took to YouTube to announce that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, calling her health battle her “toughest race yet.”The reality star recounted undergoing a revision procedure in June 2022 for a breast augmentation she'd had two years earlier. Approximately six months later, she noticed “a marble-sized lump” in one of her breasts, but thought it was just scar tissue.
“I didn’t think nothing of it,” she said, noting that she called her plastic surgeon to inquire about the lump. “They said, ‘Nothing to worry about; you should be okay. We didn’t see nothing in the pathology report.’”
Ms. Musi subsequently brought up her concerns with her OB-GYN during her annual checkup. However, she said her doctor did not request any tests to check the lump. “He said, ‘All right, we’ll just keep an eye on it and if it gets any worse then we‘ll, you know, go ahead and run tests,’” she recalled.
By March 2023, the lump had grown to the size of a mandarin, Ms. Musi described, sharing that she immediately saw her doctor, who ran several tests, including an ultrasound, a mammogram, and a biopsy, which confirmed that she had triple-negative stage 4 breast cancer (TNBC).
‘A Tough Road’
According to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, TNBC, also known as metastatic breast cancer, accounts for approximately 15 percent of all invasive breast cancers and is more common in women under the age of 40.The National Cancer Institute indicates that the estimated five-year survival rate for women diagnosed with TNBC is 91.2 percent if the cancer is confined to the breast. If the cancer has spread to nearby areas, such as the lymph nodes, the survival rate is 65.4 percent. However, if the cancer has moved to other areas of the body, such as the liver, lungs, or bones, then the survival rate drops to only 12.2 percent.
In her YouTube video, Ms. Musi explained that her doctor discovered that her cancer had spread from her breast to her lymph nodes and then to her liver.
“That was the day that I actually finally broke down,” she said. “It’s the hardest, hardest thing.”
Reflecting on her uphill health battle, including the ensuing chemotherapy treatment, Ms. Musi said she knew she was about to embark on “a hard, life-changing experience.”
“I just pray that I can be able to be strong and handle it,” she said.
“I wake up in the morning, I’m like, ‘I feel fine, I feel good.’ And then you go, ‘Oh wait, I have cancer.’ It’s like, you know, it hits you like a freight train,” she explained. “I feel okay right now; I feel okay, um, hopefully my body can stay strong through this. I got God on my side and doing it through Him so I have faith. That’s all that matters.”
Ms. Musi also expressed her appreciation for her family and friends, sharing that she was grateful for all of the support she has received thus far.
“I appreciate everything and everyone reaching out and thinking about us,” she said. “This is going to be a tough road that we’re going to be going down but, um, I think we’re going to get through it.”
In April of this year, Ms. Musi posted an update on Instagram, marking a full year since she had been diagnosed with TNBC.
“I am so very thankful to what this journey has actually taught me. I now know I have a purpose in life. I am grateful to keep going,” she wrote.
