The Office star Jenna Fischer has revealed how she relied on famous friend Christina Applegate after her breast cancer diagnosis.
Just a week after the 50-year-old publicly revealed her Stage 1 triple positive breast cancer diagnosis, which she said was “aggressive but treatable,” the actress opened up about her treatment and support system.
During a conversation with the Today Toon‘s Hoda Kotb, the Hollywood heavyweight, also revealed how 52-year-old Christina, who was diagnosed with MS in 2021, has been a source of comfort to her.
After receiving her diagnosis, Jenna revealed she sought comfort from her boyfriend, who insisted she “knew” she had cancer.
Jenna described the emotional journey that led to her discovering she needed to undergo chemotherapy and the different ways Christina helped her by being “salty.”
The Office star Jenna Fischer revealed last year that she was diagnosed with breast cancer
Jenna admitted that Christina was one of the first people she told about the situation.
She told the outlet, “I called her, she answered and said, ‘Which one is it?’ And I said, ‘It’s breast cancer.’ And she said, ‘I knew it.’
“She’s salty. Salty language that. I love her for it.’
The Office star also said Christina helped her connect with several other breast cancer survivors.
Jenna recalled how she was diagnosed and revealed that it all started when she went to get her annual mammogram in October 2023.
She told Hoda, “Three weeks later they said, ‘Oh, your mammogram was fine.’ There were a few spots that were hard to see.”
”You have very dense tissue. We recommend that you have another mammogram and possibly an ultrasound of the breasts.”
Jenna admitted at the time that she “wasn’t worried.”
Just a week after the 50-year-old publicly revealed her stage 1 triple positive breast cancer diagnosis, the actress spoke out about her treatment
She said she had to rely on celebrity friend Christina Applegate after her breast cancer diagnosis
Jenna described the emotional journey that led to her discovering she needed to undergo chemotherapy and the different ways Christina helped her by being ‘salty’ (the couple seen in 2011)
After her ultrasound, doctors advised the Hollywood A-lister to undergo a biopsy, saying there was “a 10 percent chance it was cancer.”
She added: ‘I checked the portal during the walk and then I saw words like invasive, ductal, carcinoma, malignant. And I thought, ‘Those words sound like cancer words.’
After the portal message, Jenna called her husband, Lee Kirk, and told him the news, adding that she still wasn’t sure if it was cancer.
She revealed she was in ‘disbelief’ before telling how she broke the devastating news to her children.
Jenna revealed that she and Lee sat down and told their children, Weston Lee, 13, and Harper Marie, 10, the news in a very “honest” conversation.
The actress admitted that her treatment, which saw her undergo chemotherapy, a lumpectomy and radiation, helped her be more grateful for the “annoying” things in life, like “traffic.”
Jenna – who is now cancer-free – put the success of her treatment down to an early diagnosis, as she urged other women to book their appointments.
Just over a week after Jenna Fischer publicly revealed her breast cancer diagnosis, the former “The Office” actor is opening up to TODAY’s Hoda Kotb about her journey, treatment and how her mindset has changed.
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— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 21, 2024
While speaking with Today Show’s Hoda Kotb, the Hollywood heavyweight explained how she was diagnosed
Jenna shared a photo with husband Lee Kirk and their children as they celebrated the end of her treatment
She told the newspaper: ‘If I had waited another six months it could have been a lot worse. It could have spread. It was a very aggressive form of cancer.
‘I’m really lucky that my cancer hasn’t spread to my lymph nodes. It hadn’t spread anywhere else in my body.’
‘My tumor was still very small, too small to feel. That’s the point. A self-examination would not have caught the cancer. It was really that routine mammogram that started this all. And I’m so grateful that I went to that appointment.”
Last week, Jenna shared a candid photo of herself with shorter hair after undergoing chemotherapy treatment – and begged her fans to get regular mammograms.
She wrote: ‘October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I never thought I would make such an announcement, but here we are.
‘Last December I was diagnosed with stage 1 triple positive breast cancer. After surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, I am now cancer-free.’
Jenna is married to Lee and the couple shares son Weston Lee, 13, and daughter, Harper Marie, 10.
She is best known for her role as Pam Beesly on The Office from 2005-2013, in which John Krasinski played her love interest Jim Alpert. Their characters got married on the NBC show and gained a huge fandom.
