Mary Jo Buttafuoco being treated for breast cancer

The former Mary Jo Buttafuoco, who survived being shot in the face 34 years ago by a 17-year-old girl outside her Massapequa home, told Newsday she has breast cancer.

Mary Jo Connery, who now uses her birth surname, received a diagnosis of Stage 1 ductal carcinoma in situ  earlier this summer, she said in a phone interview on Tuesday.

Connery, 71, was diagnosed after she found a lump in her left breast while conducting a self-exam in May.

"I immediately felt it and I was like, this isn't normal," she said. "I just didn't wait. You know, I could have said, 'Oh boy,' not tell anybody and just wait awhile. I immediately went to the doctor and got the mammogram."

Doctors diagnosed her with early stage cancer after her mammogram. She had surgery in August to remove the growth and lymph nodes and just underwent her first week of radiation therapy.

Connery said she wanted to go public with her diagnosis to spread awareness about breast cancer, early detection and the importance of maintaining one's health. 

"Get an exam. Listen to your doctors," she said. "Be proactive in your health."

Since she has no history of breast cancer in her family, Connery admitted she didn't get regularly suggested mammograms, but always did self-exams. 

The American Cancer Society recommends women 55 and older should get a mammogram every other year, if not every year.

"They said that the rate of it coming back is like 10%," Connery said. "If I didn't do all of this, maybe 40%. So I figured I'll err on the side of caution and do what they recommend."

Connery's announcement comes weeks before October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

She credited her doctors and healthcare workers for making it the most positive experience possible.

"It's not a death sentence anymore," she said. "There's so much treatment now. I'm just blown away. I'm now part of this community with breast cancer survivors and it's wonderful."

A motivational speaker who has lived in Los Angeles County for years, Connery spoke with Newsday earlier this year about a Lifetime movie based on her life.

"I'm doing well, just getting older and living a quiet life as I always wanted," Connery said.

On May 19, 1992, 17-year-old Amy Fisher, who had a sexual relationship with Connery's then-husband, Joey Buttafuoco, shot Connery in the side of the head at their Massapequa home.

Connery filed for divorce in 2003 and married Stu Tendler in 2012. Tendler died in 2018.

"I'm fighting it like I fight everything else," Connery said of her cancer. "It's all OK. Just one more chapter in my life, and I'm glad that I'm here to fight it."