Jenna Fischer Talks Breast Cancer Diagnosis in 1st Interview: EXCLUSIVE

Just over a week after Jenna Fischer publicly revealed her breast cancer diagnosis, the former “The Office” actor is opening up about her journey, treatment and how her mindset has changed.

On Oct. 8, Fischer, 50, shared an Instagram post for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, revealing that she had been diagnosed with stage 1 triple-positive breast cancer in Dec. 2023. He wrote that after undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, he is now cancer free.

In a one-on-one conversation with TODAY’s Hoda Kotb that aired Oct. 21, Fischer said she hopes sharing her story will bring comfort and hope to another woman receiving a breast cancer diagnosis.

The diagnosis

The actor told Hoda that in October 2023 he went to his routine mammogram appointment that he had been putting off.

“Three weeks later, they said, ‘Oh, your mammogram was fine. There were some spots that were hard to see. You have a very dense tissue. We recommend that you get another mammogram and maybe follow up with a breast ultrasound,’” she said of the conversation with her doctor.

“I said, ‘This is the date that won’t end,'” Fischer added, laughing.

She explained that she didn’t feel “any level of concern” when she had the breast ultrasound again. However, they later asked him to have a biopsy, saying there was probably a “10% chance it was cancerous”.

Fischer said she was on a field trip of her own when she received the results through her patient portal.

“I checked the portal during the walk and that’s when I saw words like ‘invasive’, ‘ductal’, ‘carcinoma’, ‘malignant’,” he said. “And I said, ‘Those words sound like cancer words.’

She then called her husband, Lee Kirk, to tell him the results, although she wasn’t sure it was cancer until her doctor confirmed it later that day.

When her doctor told her of her diagnosis, Fischer said she just felt “disbelief.”

“I think the word that really got me was when we found out it was triple positive and my oncologist said chemotherapy. That’s when I really lost it,” she said.

treatment

Fischer spoke to Hoda about the reality of hair loss during chemotherapy, which she said was one of the side effects that worried her the most.

“I started out with just a big bald spot on this side of my head. And I would do a really elaborate hairstyle,” she said with a laugh. “I said, ‘Oh, I understand why gentlemen are doing this now.’ Yes, I can pretend this isn’t there for a while.

Although Fischer said he considered it, he never had a “close shave moment.” Aside from styling her new part, she said she also opted to wear more hats and wigs during treatment.

Supported by your support system

When it came to sharing the news with friends and family, the “Hall Pass” actor revealed one of the first people he called after receiving his diagnosis: Christina Applegate.

“I called her and she answered the phone and said, ‘What is it?’ And I said, ‘It’s breast cancer.’ And she said, ‘Effing, I knew it.’” Fischer recalled their conversation. That salty language. I love him for that.”

Fischer said Applegate put her in touch with other survivors and they embarked on their journey “together.”

As for her children, Weston Lee, 13, and Harper Marie, 10, Fisher said she and her husband “sat them down” and were “very honest with them.”

“They’re 10 and 13, and they were going to live in the house while I was going through this. They’re going to see it. And the most important thing I wanted them to know was that any ways I looked sick during this process were side effects of the treatments. They weren’t cancer that made me sick,” she said.

“That distinction, I think, really put them at ease. And then we did it together. And they were amazing.”

where are things

Along with chemotherapy, Fischer said she also underwent a lumpectomy and radiation. After his latest screenings, the actor said he is cancer-free, although he will continue to take tamoxifen and Herceptin for the next year.

Fischer told Hoda that two saving graces during her experience were maintaining a sense of humor and normality.

“Humor helped through all of that. And work helped. And staying out in the world helped,” he said. “My oncology nurse, Ron, was an amazing man. … When I started chemotherapy, he said, ‘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. Walk and water. That’s what I want you to do. And I want you to take care of these kids. The women who get up and do it are the women who do it best according to the my experience’”.

Fischer said some of the best advice she received was to “live your life through this process,” while listening to her body.

“I did,” he said. “And some days I just did circles in my living room. Some days I walked the whole block. But every day I got up and did those things. And I think it made a big difference.”

Looking back on the past year, Fischer told Hoda that one of the most important lessons she’s learned is the impact of people caring for others.

“So many people took care of me and my family and my kids, and I’m so grateful for that, in so many small ways,” she said. “And the thing is, everyone had the right or perfect way to do it.”

Fischer explained that some friends put their chemotherapy schedule on their calendar, while others sent thoughtful text messages and picked up their children from school. She said her mother-in-law recorded the prayers she would send before treatments.

The mother of two said the whole trip made her look at the world through a new lens of gratitude.

“I liked people getting mad if I was late with an email,” he said. “I liked to be thought of as my old self, so to speak.”

“All the most important things became clear so quickly. And the best thing is that this focus never goes out. So now I will take it with me. … I will say that I find the world such a beautiful place in every its peculiarities”.

Fischer added that the daily grind has suddenly become “lovely” for her.

“Like, you know, just traffic. ‘Oh look at you, beautiful traffic. Look at all the people going places,'” he said. “Good thing I can sit in traffic. How cool.”

Fischer’s final takeaway from her experience is a message for all women: “Please don’t skip your mammogram appointment. Please do all the extra tests your doctor wants you to do.”

She attributes the success of her treatments to her early diagnosis, encouraging more people to book the “annoying” appointment.

“If I had waited another six months, it could have been much worse. It could have been extended. It was a very aggressive form of cancer,” Fischer said. “I’m very lucky that my cancer didn’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,” she added. “That’s the thing. A self-examination would not have (caught the cancer). It was really that routine mammogram that started it all. And I’m so grateful I went on this date.”