Jenna Fischer is sharing news of her breast cancer diagnosis.
“The Office” star, 50, made the reveal on her Instagram on Oct. 8, writing that since October is breast cancer awareness month, she wanted to share her story.
“I never thought I’d be making an announcement like this but here we are. Last December, I was diagnosed with Stage 1 Triple Positive Breast Cancer. After completing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation I am now cancer free,” she wrote in her caption. “I wanted a photo of myself in my patchy pixie looking happy and healthy to go along with this news.”
Fischer added in her caption that the slides of her Instagram post contained more info about her breast cancer journey.
She said that last year she underwent a routine mammogram and encouraged others to do the same. Then doctors discovered “something in my left breast,” she recalled.
She noted that her type of breast cancer is aggressive but responsive to treatment. Stage 1 means the cancer had not yet spread to the lymph nodes or the rest of the body. She underwent a lumpectomy to remove the tumor in January followed by 12 rounds of chemotherapy and three weeks of radiation. She is now cancer-free but continues to receive medication infusions.
“I’m happy to say I’m feeling great,” she wrote.
Fischer, who is a mom of two kids, 10 and 13, said before she decided to share her diagnosis, she had been wearing wigs after losing her hair during the chemotherapy.
“I’m making this announcement for a few reasons. One, I’m ready to ditch the wigs. Two, to implore you to get your annual mammograms,” she wrote.
“I’m serious, call your doctor right now,” she continued. “My tumor was so small it could not be felt on a physical exam. If I had waited six months longer, things could have been much worse. It could have spread.”
“Seeing women post photos of their mammogram appointments on Instagram needled me into setting my own (which I was late for). I’m so glad I did. Consider this your kick in the butt to get it done.”
“I’m also sharing in hopes that it will be a source of support to any woman who is going through this right now. As anyone who has had a cancer diagnosis knows, your life changes immediately.”
The actor thanked her “amazing village,” from the medical team that helped her to cancer survivors that she connected with, as well as her friends and family, including best friend and fellow “The Office” star Angela Kinsey.
She also mentioned her husband Lee Kirk, who “has been by my side through all of this.” After her final chemo and radiation treatment, he asked her how she wanted to celebrate. She replied that she wanted to “ring a bell, with the kids, in our backyard, with everyone throwing confetti.”
The final photo in her slideshow is of that very moment.
What is triple-positive breast cancer?
Triple-positive breast cancer occurs when the cancers cells contain higher levels of the HER2 protein, as well as receptors for the hormones estrogen and progesterone, according to BreastCancer.org. This means that when estrogen, progesterone or HER2 proteins bind to the cancer cells, they grow faster.
As a result, these types of cancers are considered aggressive, but they respond better to treatment than triple-negative breast cancers, which tend to have a worse prognosis.
Triple-positive breast cancer treatment usually involves surgery, such as a mastectomy or lumpectomy, radiation, chemotherapy, medications targeting the HER2 protein and hormonal therapy.