Jenna Fischer announced on Instagram that she was diagnosed with triple positive breast cancer last December and is now living cancer free after “completing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.” “The Office” actor wrote that she was coming forward with her cancer journey as October is breast cancer awareness month.
“Triple positive breast cancer is an aggressive form of breast cancer but it is also highly responsive to treatment,” Fischer wrote. “In January, I had a lumpectomy to remove the tumor. Luckily my cancer was caught early and it hadn’t spread into my lymph nodes or throughout the rest of my body, however because of the aggressive nature of triple positive breast cancer it still required chemotherapy and radiation to be sure it didn’t return. In February I began 12 rounds of weekly chemotherapy, and in June I started three weeks of radiation. And while I continue to be treated with infusions of Herceptin and a daily dose of Tamoxifen, I’m happy to say I’m feeling great.”
Fischer wrote that she was finally eager to go public with her cancer journey in order “to implore you to get your annual mammograms.”
“I’m serious, call your doctor right now,” she added. “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…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. It becomes all about doctor appointments, test results, treatments and recovering from treatments. Suddenly everything in your life is geared around one thing: fighting cancer.”
Fischer went on to thank the village of people who supported her during her cancer treatment, including her “The Office” co-star Angela Kinsey. The two host the “Office Ladies” podcast, and Fischer said that Kinsey “protected me and advocated for me” during their podcast recordings.
“For a long time, she was the only person in my workspace who knew,” Fischer wrote. “When I lost my hair, she wore hats to our work meetings so I wouldn’t be the only one. When I needed a break, we took one. I am so lucky to have a career with this kind of flexibility. Cancer treatment requires a lot of flexibility. For a gal who likes to plan, that was a hard adjustment. But, continuing to work has brought so much joy to my life during treatment.”
Fischer played Pam Beesly on all nine seasons of “The Office,” which aired on NBC from 2005 to 2013. She earned an Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series thanks to her work on “The Office.” Fischer’s additional acting credits include the films “Blades of Glory” (2007), “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” (2007), “Hall Pass” (2011) and more.
Read Fischer’s full post about her cancer treatment in the Instagram post below.