Anna 'Chickadee' Cardwell's family thought she was 'not living in reality' before tragic death from cancer

ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Before her tragic death in December 2023, Anna ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell’s family members felt she was not living in reality following her cancer diagnosis. The 29-year-old TV star’s family members shared their concerns during the Friday, February 24 episode of ‘Mama June: Family Crisis’.

Anna ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell was diagnosed with stage four adrenal cancer in January 2023 before her tragic passing in December at the age of 29.

The current season of the WeTV show was, however, filmed before her death and chronicled the family going through the trying conditions.

Anna ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell’s family discusses her condition

The Friday’s episode titled ‘School Daze’ had Anna’s mother Mama June Shannon and sister Lauryn 'Pumpkin' Efird discussing her affairs regarding the custody of her two young children, per Daily Mail.

Anna had been the mother to her two young daughters - Kaitlyn, 12, and Kylee, eight. 

While Anna welcomed Kylee with her former husband Michael Cardwell, Kaitlyn’s paternity was not disclosed.

Anna’s family members, who were probably preparing for the worst, were seen to be discussing certain affairs they wished Anna would have left in order.

During the episode, Mama June and Lauryn got engaged in the discussion of Anna and her children’s future when her sister initiated the topic of Anna’s reluctance to make decisions on her children’s future.

Lauryn initiated the conversation with June and asked, “For real with the Anna situation, why is she being like that?”

The worried mother replied, “I think Anna just gets so wound up. And I tried to ask the doctor her time frame, and then she cut him off,” before sharing with her Anna’s reply, “She was like, "Oh, I've heard 1, 5, and 10 years."”

She then heartbreakingly shared the doctor’s stern but practical reply, who allegedly said to Anna, “And he looked at her and said, "You're not going to make 10 years, you're not going to make it 5 years.””

At that cue, Lauryn replied, “She is not living in reality at all, Mama, like she does not realize she's gonna die. I think she knows that she's gonna die.”

June accused Lauryn’s hypothesis and added, “'But she doesn't want to face it.”

Mama June looked at Anna’s insurance policies

The episode focused on the family’s emotionally tumultuous situation as it then focused on Mama June sharing with Lauryn that she looked into Anna’s insurance documents. However, she also noted ruefully that she was unable to do much as Anna would not give her certain documents.

In a later confessional, Lauryn said, “I'm kinda shocked that Mama was even looking into life insurance policies for the girls and Anna.”

However, she again stressed the point that it was of utmost importance for Anna to sort out her affairs for her daughters. She reiterated, “But honestly, I think that is very important because girls are top priority.”

Lauryn explained. “Anna's husband Eldridge [Toney] isn't even the biological father of the two kids.”

Referring to Kylee, who is the biological daughter of Michael Cardwell, Lauryn said, “Kylee, her dad is still in the picture. So legally, he would get custody of her.”

She continued, “But you know, with Kaitlyn she doesn't have a dad around or in the picture at all. So it's like, where's she gonna go?”

Lauryn further told Mama June, “The cancer part wouldn't be so bad if she would just fix the stuff that needs to be fixed, get her affairs in order and then we'd all be able to just hang out and worry about spending time with her.”

After Anna’s passing in December, Michael received custody of Kylee while Kaitlyn reportedly is living with Mama June.

Anna said she was starting new diet to give her life expectancy

In another segment of the episode, Mama June’s husband Justin meets with the reality TV star and Lauryn. 

After the couple along with Anna drove to their rental home in Atlanta, Lauryn also visited them. She later brought up the topic of Anna’s two daughters again during a family discussion.

While Anna shared that she felt her chemotherapy was working, Lauryn said she felt that the mother-of-two still needed to prioritize her two daughters’ future.

Then Lauryn asked her sister how she was feeling to which Anna replied apart from feeling a bit 'nauseous', she felt that 'the chemo is working'.  She also shared that she was planning to focus on a healthier diet that would give her “a little bit of life expectancy.”

Anna continued, “You know what I mean? You know, at least want to make it to see Kaitlyn go to high school. I mean, she's got four more years. That'd be all right. We are all just going with the flow.”

Lauryn, nevertheless, interrupted her and said, “But like going with the flow...I mean, like we need to know all these things.”

She continued, “You know what I'm saying? Like there's a lot of other stuff besides the cancer stuff that needs to be so that is not in order at all.”

In between the conversation, Anna excused herself and went to take a nap, Lauryn said to June, “I mean Mama she needs to get it together.”

June later talked to Justin about the same and shared that she and Lauryn both think “the reason why she's kind of dragging her feet is because then that makes it real, like "Hey, I'm not gonna be around like see Kaitlyn graduate high school, I'm not gonna be around to see Kylee graduate."”

June continued, “If you had to go to a courthouse and sign a piece of paper saying that when I pass away, this is who gets my child, that's a hard pill to swallow.”