'The Office' Star Jenna Fischer Breaks Silence On Cancer Diagnosis
Yesterday at 01:31 PM
"The Office" star Jenna Fischer announced earlier this month that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Fischer, 50, starred in NBC's hit comedy - one of the most successful shows of all-time - from 2005-13. She's since started a podcast with one of her co-stars, Angela Kinsey, and appeared in various movies and TV shows. But earlier this month, she had some big personal news to share. Fischer, who was born in Indiana and attended Truman State University, had been diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer.
"October is breast cancer awareness month. 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.I wanted a photo of myself in my patchy pixie looking happy and healthy to go along with this news. A big thank you to Angela Kinsey's husband Josh Snyder for taking this photo. It's just one example of the care they showed me during this journey," she announced.
Fischer spoke to the TODAY Show on Monday morning about her diagnosis and her hair loss.
The popular actress went in for a routine mammogram appointment in October of 2023.
"Three weeks later, they said, 'Oh, your mammogram was fine. There were a few spots that were difficult to see. You have very dense tissue. We would recommend that you do another mammogram and maybe follow up with a breast ultrasound,'" she said of her appointment.
"I was like, 'This is the appointment that won't end.'"
Fischer ended up getting more scans and got her results when she was on a hike.
"I checked the portal on the hike, and that's when I saw words like 'invasive,' 'ductal,' 'carcinoma,' 'malignant,'" she said. "And I was like, 'Those words sound like cancer words.'"
Fischer admitted that she "lost it" when she was told she would need to undergo chemotherapy. She experienced hair loss.
"I started by having just a big bald patch down this side of my head. And I would kind of do a real elaborate comb-over," she said. "I was like, 'Oh, I understand why the gentlemen do this now. Yes, I can sort of pretend like that isn't there for a while.'"
Thankfully, Fischer is now cancer-free, though she's continuing to take tamoxifen and Herceptin for the next year.
"Humor helped through all of this. And working helped. And staying in the world helped," she said. "My oncology nurse, Ron, was an amazing man. ... When I started chemotherapy, he said to me, 'Listen, I want you to get up every day, and I want you to walk. Every day.'"
"'I want you to drink a ton of water. Walking and water. That's what I want you to do. And I want you to take care of those kids. The women who get up and at it are the women who do better in my experience.'"
Our thoughts continue to be with Jenna and her family during this scary time.
