Casey DeSantis said she and Ron DeSantis didn't tell their young children when she was diagnosed with breast cancer: 'To this day, they still don't know'

• In a "Fox & Friends" interview, Casey DeSantis spoke about her 2021 breast cancer diagnosis.
• Casey, who is in remission, said that she and Ron didn't tell their children that she had cancer.

Casey DeSantis opened up about her 2021 breast-cancer diagnosis and treatment in an emotional joint interview with her husband, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, that aired Thursday on "Fox & Friends."

In October 2021, DeSantis announced that Casey had been diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time, the DeSantises' three children — Madison, Mason, and Mamie — were aged 4, 3, and 1.

"Anybody will say with a cancer diagnosis, when you start hearing those words, it's not definitive right out of the gate," Casey said. "It is, 'We see something that is problematic.' And a really hard part for me was that I had a 4, 3-year-old, and a 1-year-old in the house. And it's like very, very difficult when you look at your children, and they don't know."

After treatment and surgery, Casey entered remission and was declared cancer-free in March 2022. She told "Fox & Friends" that she and DeSantis didn't tell their young children — now aged 6, 5, and 3 — about her illness while she was sick, and they still haven't.

"To this day, they still don't know," she said, holding back tears. "They have no idea what mama went through. As a matter of fact, when I was going through six rounds of chemotherapy, six weeks of radiation and three surgeries, couldn't really use my left arm a lot of times. So I told them […] I hurt my arm. I didn't want to tell them, but through God's grace I am here."

As first lady of Florida, Casey has made cancer treatment and awareness one of her main platforms, funding research through the Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program and establishing the Cancer Connect Collaborative to "analyze and rethink Florida's approach to combatting cancer," according to a February press release from the governor's office.

Casey also spoke about her diagnosis in an emotional ad for DeSantis' 2022 reelection campaign, sharing how her husband cared for her and her family during treatments. She has joined DeSantis at events on the 2024 campaign trail in support of his Republican presidential bid.

Watch the full "Fox & Friends" interview here: