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From Cosmetic Complications to Internet Trolls, Fox News Meteorologist Janice Dean Has Weathered It All
If you were to ask, "What happened to Janice Dean?" you'd have to be more specific! Fox News' senior meteorologist, who has worked for the cable news network since 2004, hasn't had an easy life in recent years. And yet she's still dutifully showing up on TV, giving each day's weather report with a smile on her face.
Just this January, for example, she got a rude comment from a Facebook commenter. "Dear Janice, please stop allowing Fox to dress you in those short skirts," the viewer wrote. "They are not flattering on you. [You're] an attractive lady, love the '80s hair, but your legs are distracting every time you walk on screen."
The 47-year-old shared that message on her Facebook page, as well as her response. "Fox doesn't dress me. I dress myself," she told this Internet troll. "I'm sorry if you don't like my legs. I'm grateful I have them to walk with. You're right. I don't look like the typical person on TV, and I'm proud to be a size 10. Imagine that! You can always turn the channel if you're offended by my huge legs."
About a year ago, however, Janice herself didn't think she was fit for television — after a cosmetic procedure went awry. As she wrote in an op-ed, she underwent a procedure called fractora around March 2017, hoping to tighten her skin. Unfortunately, she said, she experienced some of the procedure's possible side effects: "Nerve injury, marginal mandibular nerve palsy, inability to depress lower lip, temporary change in smile or facial expression."
She couldn't smile or enunciate correctly, so she took herself off the air. "To those I have told, there has been overwhelming support, and I'm hearing stories about other people that have also had complications with cosmetic procedures," she wrote at the time. "It happens a lot more than we hear about. But we don't talk about it because, well, we live in a society where we are all supposed to look healthy and beautiful and young 'naturally.'"
At one point, Janice even thought these side effects might have been related to her multiple sclerosis, a condition with which she was diagnosed in 2005. As she explained in an op-ed last week, the immune systems of MS patients attack the protective coating surrounding the nerves of the central nervous system. "My doctor tells me we are close to putting all the puzzle pieces together and, at the very least, getting to an understanding of how MS works and how we might be able to stop it one day," she wrote. "Perhaps there might even be a cure in my lifetime … Keep those emails, notes, and words of encouragement coming our way. Because together, we are stronger."
Indeed! After all those ordeals, we'd say Janice has strength and resilience in spades.
