In a powerful post shared to Instagram yesterday, Olivia Munn revealed she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer last year and underwent a double mastectomy.
In her caption, the actor expressed her hope that her story will help others.
“I hope by sharing this it will help others find comfort, inspiration, and support on their own journey."
Munn shared in her post that just a couple of months prior to her diagnosis, she tested negative for all cancer genes.
"In February of 2023, in an effort to be proactive about my health, I took a genetic test that checks you for 90 different cancer genes. I tested negative for all, including BRCA (the most well-known breast cancer gene)."
"My sister Sara had just tested negative as well. We called each other and high-fived over the phone. That same winter, I also had a normal mammogram."
"Two months later i was diagnosed with breast cancer."
She then explained how the cancer was detected.
“I wouldn’t have found my cancer for another year – at my next scheduled mammogram – except that my OBGYN, Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi, decided to calculate my Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score. The fact that she did saved my life."
“Dr. Aliabadi looked at factors like my age, familial breast cancer history, and the fact that I had my first child after the age of 30. She discovered my lifetime risk was at 37%. Because of that score I was sent to get an MRI, which led to an ultrasound, which then led to a biopsy."
"The biopsy showed I had Luminal B cancer in both breasts. Luminal B is an aggressive, fast moving cancer.”
30 days later, she had a double mastectomy.
“I went from feeling completely fine one day, to waking up in a hospital bed after a 10-hour surgery the next."
Munn continued, urging women to have their doctors calculate their Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score.
“I’m lucky. We caught it with enough time that I had options."
"I want the same for any woman who might have to face this one day. Ask your doctor to calculate your Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score.”
You can see the post below.
Friends and fans alike expressed their gratitude for the actor's post.
Amy Schumer, Rumer Willis, Kerry Washington and Michelle Kwan all thanked Munn for sharing her journey.
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And others did the same, commenting on her strength over the course of the last year, as well as thanking Munn for raising awareness.
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Munn finished her post by expressing her own gratitude for her friends and family, as well as her husband John Mulaney "for the nights he spent researching what every operation and medication meant and what side effects and recovery I could expect."
"For being there before I went into each surgery and being there when I woke up, always placing framed photos of our little boy Malcolm so it would be the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes."
She added:
"Thank you to the friends who've had breast cancer and the friends who connected me to friends who've had breast cancer for guiding me through some of my most uncertain and overwhelming moments."
Munn concluded with a special thanks to those who cared for her at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles and Saint John's in Santa Monica."
"Thank you thank you thank you thank you..."
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