‘Below Deck’ Star, Cancer Survivor Sandy Yawn, 58, Married Longtime Love Leah in ‘Incredible’ Superyacht Ceremony — Will the Famed Bravo Show Feuds Soften?

Finding Love After Cancer and Addiction

• Below Deck Mediterranean star Sandy Yawn, aka “Captain Sandy,” just married her longtime love, Leah Shafer, in a superyacht ceremony last month.
• Though things are blissful for the kidney cancer survivor, who has also survived a heart attack and alcohol addition, what will this mean for future BRAVO show feuds? Sandy cleared up some of her on and off-screen controversy this week.
• Symptoms of kidney cancer, which may not always present in earlier stages, can include persistent back pain, blood in your urine, loss of appetite, unexplained weight loss, fever and tiredness.
• Risk factors such as older age, smoking, obesity, high blood pressure and a family history of cancer can increase your chances for developing the disease. Alcohol use can also contribute to higher risk. Regular check-ups at your doctor’s office —and being candid about your health habits — can help you stay ahead of a potential diagnosis.

Below Deck Mediterranean star Sandy Yawn, aka "Captain Sandy," just married her longtime love, Leah Shafer, in a superyacht ceremony in May, which, of course, was filmed for the hit BRAVO show, but time will tell how the blissful nuptials will affect the hit show's on-camera drama — is Sandy softening up? "On May 11th, 2024 I married the love of my life," Sandy, 58, began an Instagram announcement post, displaying an array of gorgeous wedding photos with her new bride. RELATED : 'Below Deck' Star Captain Sandy Yawn Finally Feels ‘Home’ With Girlfriend Leah After Fighting Cancer And Addiction "I had no idea how amazing marriage could be! It feels incredible and I feel like the luckiest woman in the world," the boat captain continued. "I love you, Leah Rae Yawn!! Thank you for taking my name! Thank you to our entire family and friends for coming out to show your love and support to our relationship." Evidently tight with one of the reality show's executive producers, Nadine Rajabi officiated the glamorous wedding. A fitting choice, considering Sandy would not have met her bride without her on-screen opportunity. Leah was a fan of the show and reached out to her future wife on Facebook, where the pair started exchanging messages. The duo dated for five years before getting engaged in September of last year. As PEOPLE noted, in Sandy's book, Be the Calm or Be the Storm , Sandy wrote about the timing of Leah coming into her life. "I believe God has a way of preparing you for 'the one,'" she wrote. "He knew I wasn't ready for her all those years ago. And she wasn't ready for me."

"God waited for us," the Florida native added. "He gave me opportunities to make different choices and be more conscious, so that when that sweet little Facebook message came across my page, I was open."

Sandy Yawn Beat Kidney Cancer and Addiction

Sandy Yawn is evidently on cloud nine after her special wedding day, and has come a long way since her past struggles, including her battle with kidney cancer, which she went through in 2015. Strangely, like her love life, Sandy's diagnosis was also due to a chance event, discovered after she got into a motorcycle accident. RELATED : ‘Below Deck’ Star Sandy Yawn on How A Near-Death Motorcycle Crash Was a Lucky Break: Doctors Spotted Her Cancer "I was on my way to the Miami Boat Show doing about 70 mph," she said in an interview with ITV . "And a car pulled in front of me, and I T-boned the car, and as I was flipping in the air, I felt my mother's presence, and I thought, 'Oh, I'm going to go to heaven and see my mom.’ "I landed on the pavement, and I'm like, 'Are you kidding me?' I was grateful I could move." Once she was at the hospital, doctors discovered her stage 2 kidney cancer. Yawn underwent laparoscopic surgery less than one month after her accident, and, thankfully, she’s been cancer-free ever since.

“Who would have ever thought they would be grateful for being in a motorcycle crash? But I was,” Sandy wrote for Women's Health . “As the doctor explained, it might have been years until that tumor was found. At that point, the cancer would have progressed, and it would have been too late.” Sandy, who once survived a heart attack after experiencing symptoms during a cycling class, has also been open about her past struggles with alcohol. Now sober for 36 years, Sandy still appears to be in good health.

Life On-Screen: Sandy's 'Below Deck' Feuds and Where They Stand

While life off-screen is seemingly perfect, some of Sandy's on-screen feuds are still in question, and the fan favorite alpha female cleared up some of the latest controversy this week. "I saw Hannah the other night and we had a great conversation," Sandy revealed to Australian radio hosts Ricki-Lee and Tim Joel, shared via the show's TikTok on June 21. "A lot of people think [I don't like her]. But I don't not like anyone," she divulged, noting that she went to her house while in Australia and even met her baby. "Honestly. I like Hannah. I actually care about Hannah. She knows that. I hope she's listening because I do care about Hannah." On Monday, Us Weekly gave an overview on some of Sandy's other feuds, including updates on where she stands with fellow Below Deck franchise stars Captain Lee and Fraser Olender. Sandy and Lee are apparently "on cordial terms," and as for Olender, the entertainment site says that their issues "seemingly will keep escalating in future episodes of the hit Bravo series." Olender said last year that it was "an adjustment" when Sandy first came onboard.

Alcohol & Cancer

Discussing a different type of relationship, it's important to understand alcohol's influence on cancer risk, but overall, the data is mixed. Kidney disease is often related to alcohol abuse, and Captain Sandy’s prior history can be something to look at, but of course, this cannot be definitively determined. Dr. Heather Yeo from Weill Cornell Medicine tells SurvivorNet that she does believe high levels of alcohol can predispose people to certain types of cancer. Learning about increased cancer risk from alcohol Dr. Yeo says the key with alcohol is moderation. Her view? "For women, anything over a half a glass or a glass a day is probably not helping your overall health. For men, they can probably go one to two glasses [per day] before they start seeing health effects." If you feel you have a problem, please get help and talk to a trusted friend, doctor, or try out an AA group. Sandy still goes to her AA meetings, and uses her social media channels to "help and teach others" to take breaks of sobriety, like Dry July for instance. Captain Sandy is also a firm believer that #SoberIsSexy, as she frequently shares. Sobriety can be fun! And possibly help you steer further away from cancer and other related diseases.

Kidney Cancer Symptoms and Risk Factors

Kidney cancer may not present symptoms in its early stages, according to Mayo Clinic, but over time more visible signs will surface. The symptoms can include:

• Persistent pain in your back or side
• Blood in urine
• Loss of appetite
• Unexplained weight loss
• Fever
• Tiredness

How to Turn Stress Into Strength Risk factors that can increase your chance of developing kidney cancer include:

• Older age
• Obesity
• Smoking
• High blood pressure or hypertension
• Treatment for kidney failure, such as long-term dialysis
• Family history of kidney cancer
• Certain inherited syndromes, such as von Hippel-Lindau disease, Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome, tuberous sclerosis complex, hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma or familial renal cancer.

Kidney Cancer Treatment

Treatment options for kidney cancer depend on factors such as your general health, the kind of kidney cancer you have and if the cancer has spread, according to the Mayo Clinic. Treatment options include:

• Surgery is the initial treatment option for most kidney cancers where doctors try to remove the cancer while preserving normal kidney function.
• Nonsurgical treatments, which include either freezing cancer cells or heating cancer cells.
• Targeted therapy, which targets drug treatments on abnormalities present within cancer cells.
• Immunotherapy, which uses your immune system to fight cancer.
• Radiation therapy, which uses high-power energy beams to kill cancer cells.

"If I had any advice for you following a cancer diagnosis, it would be first, to seek out multiple opinions as the best care," Dr. Steven Rosenberg , chief surgery branch senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute told SurvivorNet. Contributing by SurvivorNet staff.