After surgery, radiation and 12 rounds of chemo, the actress is cancer-free, but she’s still undergoing \u00ab\u00a0targeted therapies\u00a0\u00bb<\/b>
\nJenna Fischer teared up as she reflected on her journey to being breast cancer-free just two weeks after sharing her initial health news.
\u201cI never had a big shave-your-head moment,\u201d Fischer told \u201cThe Today Show\u201d host Hoda Kotb in a special interview segment on Monday. She explained that losing her hair and vomiting were some of the fears she had going into chemotherapy. \u201cI did not throw up, but I did lose my hair \u2026 I would kind of do a real elaborate combover.\u201d
On Oct. 8, the \u201cOffice\u201d actress shared that she was cancer-free after being diagnosed with Stage 1 Triple Positive Breast Cancer, which she learned about through a regular checkup.
\u201cI went in for my routine mammogram. It\u2019s that annoying appointment that I\u2019d been putting off, and then three weeks later, they said, \u2018There were a few spots that are difficult to see; you have dense tissue. We would recommend you do another mammogram and follow up with a breast ultrasound,\u2019\u201d Fischer explained, adding that it was an \u201ceye roll\u201d scenario as she admittedly saw the further cautionary steps as an inconvenience.
\u201cIt was a total eye roll. This is why I put this off because now I have to go back again. After the ultrasound, they said, \u2018Well, we found something. We\u2019re going to need to do a biopsy,\u201d Fischer shared.
\u201cThat\u2019s when I got nervous,\u201d she said of her first procedure, which she could subsequently track with a medical portal. \u201cI was on a hike, checked the portal on the hike, and that\u2019s when I saw words like, invasive, ductal, carcinoma, malignant, and I was like, \u2018Those words sound like cancer words.\u2019\u201d
That\u2019s when she learned her diagnosis, which is a rare aggressive form of breast cancer. Fischer said knew she would have to endure surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and then targeted therapies of Herceptin and Tamoxifen, which she is \u201cstill doing now,\u201d adding: \u201cI still have my port, which is where I got my chemo \u2026 I\u2019ll do that until February of next year.\u201d
Throughout her fight, she said her husband and former co-star\/bestie Angela Kinsey were right by her side.
\u201cMy husband Lee was absolutely incredible. A typical morning for us would be both of us getting up in the morning and making school lunches and doing school drop-offs. But under the circumstances\u2026\u201d Fischer then paused as she started to tear up. \u201cThe most I could do was just get downstairs and sit at the table with a cup of coffee, and he did all the rest.\u201d
As for Kinsey, Fischer said she told her friend that she wanted to continue taping their \u201cOffice Ladies\u201d podcast, but didn\u2019t want any of their staff to know about her diagnosis.
\u201cFrom the beginning she said, \u2018Whatever you need, You tell me, I\u2019m here,\u2019 and I said, \u2018I want to keep working and I don\u2019t want anyone to know at work.\u2019 At work, I want that to be a space where we go and we laugh and I\u2019m not a cancer patient. I need that.\u2019 And she said, \u2018OK,\u2019\u201d the \u201cMean Girls\u201d star explained, noting that at one point Kinsey began wearing hats to work so Fischer wouldn\u2019t be the only one wearing them to cover up her hair loss.
After surgery, radiation and 12 rounds of chemo, doctors confirmed there was no evidence of cancer, Kotb detailed. After getting to the end of the battle, Fischer said there was one thing she wanted to do to celebrate: ring the bell. But because her infusion center didn\u2019t have a bell, her husband and family bought their own and celebrated at home.
\u201cMy husband, Lee, said, \u2018What do you want to do to celebrate being done with chemo?\u2019\u201d she recalled. \u201cI said, \u2018I want a bell. I want to ring a bell in the backyard and I want confetti.\u201d<\/p>\n