Jenna Fischer, best known for her role on The Office, took to Instagram to share that she was diagnosed with triple positive breast cancer last December. Thankfully, after undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, she is now cancer free. Fischer decided to open up about her experience since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. “Triple positive breast cancer is an aggressive form of breast cancer but it is also highly responsive to treatment,” Fischer explained. In January, she had a lumpectomy to remove the tumour. Fortunately, her cancer was detected early, so it hadn’t spread to her lymph nodes or other parts of her body.
However, because of the aggressive nature of triple positive breast cancer, she still needed chemotherapy and radiation to ensure it wouldn’t come back. She began 12 rounds of chemotherapy in February and followed it up with three weeks of radiation starting in June. “While I continue to be treated with infusions of Herceptin and a daily dose of Tamoxifen, I’m happy to say I’m feeling great,” she added.
Fischer also expressed her eagerness to share her journey publicly in order to encourage others to get their annual mammograms.
“I’m serious, call your doctor right now,” she urged. She shared how her tumour was so small it couldn’t even be detected during a physical exam. “If I had waited six months longer, things could have been much worse. It could have spread…Consider this your kick in the butt to get it done.” Fischer hopes her story will offer support to women currently facing a cancer diagnosis, acknowledging how a diagnosis changes life overnight. “Suddenly everything in your life is geared around one thing: fighting cancer,” she wrote.
Fischer extended gratitude to the people who helped her through treatment, especially her co-star from The Office, Angela Kinsey. She and Kinsey co-host the podcast Office Ladies and Fischer revealed that Kinsey “protected me and advocated for me” while they recorded the podcast.
“For a long time, she was the only person in my workspace who knew,” Fischer shared. “When I lost my hair, she wore hats to our work meetings so I wouldn’t be the only one. When I needed a break, we took one,” she added.
She expressed how lucky she felt to have a flexible career that allowed her to continue working during her treatment. “Cancer treatment requires a lot of flexibility. For a gal who likes to plan, that was a hard adjustment. But, continuing to work has brought so much joy to my life during treatment,” Fischer added.
Fischer, who portrayed Pam Beesly for all nine seasons of The Office from 2005 to 2013, received an Emmy nomination for her performance. Her acting career also includes films such as Blades of Glory (2007), Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007), and Hall Pass (2011), among others.
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