Jenna Fischer had an incredible support system while taking on breast cancer.
On October 8, The Office alum announced that she had been diagnosed with Stage 1 Triple Positive Breast Cancer — but followed up the announcement with some excellent news: she had finished chemotherapy and is now cancer-free.
Fischer joined Hoda Kotb for an emotional sit-down on Monday, October 21’s episode of Today. The 50-year-old opened up about her breast cancer journey; she discovered her diagnosis while hiking: “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.’” This left her in “disbelief.”
The mom to son Weston, 13, and daughter Harper, 10, whom she shares with her husband Lee Kirk, Fischer recalled sharing the diagnosis for the first time.
“They’re 10 and they’re 13, and they were going to be living in the house while I went through this,” she told Kotb. “They’re going to see it.” And the biggest thing that I wanted them to know was that any ways that I seemed sick during this process were side effects of treatments,” she continued. “They weren’t cancer making me sick.”
“That distinction, I think, really put them at ease,” Fischer recalled. “And then we just kind of did it together. And they were amazing.”
The star added that her husband was crucial in being there for her and her kids throughout her chemotherapy treatment.
“My Husband, Lee, was absolutely incredible,” she said. “A typical morning for us would be both of us getting up in the morning and making school lunches and doing school dropoffs.”
“Now I’m getting emotional about it, but, you know,” Fischer tearfully continued. “The most I could do was just get downstairs and sit at the table with a cup of coffee, and he did all the rest.”
The TV star, now officially in remission and taking post-treatment medication, also opened up about her decision not to shave her head during chemotherapy.
“When they told me I had to have chemo, the first thing I thought was, ‘I don’t want to throw up, and I don’t want to lose my hair. I did not throw up, but I did lose my hair.”
“I never had a big shave-your-head moment,” she told Kotb. “I don’t know why. I thought, ‘Oh, should I cut it first? Should I shave it? What do I do?’ And I didn’t.”
“I always had a little hair right here,” she continued. “I always had a little hair in the back. And since I was trying to stay undercover, those little bits of flyaways, they sort of helped with the illusion of hair. I kind of [looked] like Friar Tuck, nothing on top and then just a little something over here.”
As she adjusted to her hair loss, Fischer said she wore wigs and hats with hair — joking that her family called them “Wigats.” However, she’s now ready to “ditch the wigs” and embrace her shorter hair.
On October 21, Fischer took to Instagram, thanking the morning show and Kotb for giving her a platform to tell her story, also advising others on breast cancer awareness.
“A big thank you to @hodakotb and everyone at the @todayshow for having me on to talk about my journey with breast cancer,” Fischer captioned. “I hope that hearing my story will be comforting to any women out there also on this journey. I’m still walking through this every day. But there are more good days than bad. Being able to put my experience to use somehow helps a lot.”
The star’s advice to fans was straightforward: “Another reminder to get your mammogram and any follow up tests your doctor recommends,” she wrote. “Ninety-nine percent of women who receive an early breast cancer diagnosis survive it. Early detection is why my treatment was so successful.”
The star first shared news of her diagnosis in an October 8 Instagram post in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. The four-slide post detailed her battle. She underwent 12 rounds of chemo beginning in February and three weeks of radiation beginning in June. She has since been treated with infusions of two other medications which she will continue to be on until February 2025.
The good news is, however, that doctors have told Fischer there is no evidence of cancer anymore. She celebrated the milestone with a photo that ended the post of her ringing a cancer-free bell in her backyard with her husband and two kids.
Today, Weekdays, 7a/7c, NBC
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