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Lynette Scavo’s mother, Stella Wingfield, was a later addition to the cast of Desperate Housewives. She appeared in the season three finale, where viewers learn that Scavo has been diagnosed with Hodgkins’ lymphoma.

The mother of three daughters – Lynette, Lucy and Lydia – Stella was an abusive mother. She took drugs and drank profusely, turning her subsequent anger on her three daughters. Ever the poor role model, she was prone to bringing strange men home with her quite often. She was also known to disappear, leaving Lynette to raise her two younger sisters on her own.

She returned to Lynette’s life when Lynette’s husband, Tom, called her up and asked for money to pay for chemotherapy treatments for Lynette. Stella thereupon vowed to remain by her daughter’s side until the cancer had abated, as she had previously survived breast cancer herself. Because of the trauma of the cancer and Stella’s support, mother and daughter reconcile over time.