Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Emily Richardson | Celebrity | March 13, 2024
Today, Olivia Munn took to social media to share some serious news: in April 2023, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy a few weeks later.
In an Instagram post, the 43-year-old actress wrote that last February, she and her sister Sara both took a test that checked them for 90 different cancer genes. Olivia tested negative for all of them, including BRCA, “the most well-known breast cancer gene.” She thought she was in the clear, but her OBGN decided to calculate her Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score. The doctor determined Olivia had a 37% chance of getting breast cancer in her lifetime. Because of that score, Olivia was sent to get an MRI, which led to an ultrasound, which then led to a biopsy. The biopsy showed Olivia had Luminal B cancer, “an aggressive, fast-moving cancer”, in both breasts:
30 days after that biopsy I 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.
Olivia says that she’s had 4 surgeries in the last 10 months and has spent “so many” days in bed. She’s kept “the diagnosis and the worry and the recovery and the pain medicine and the paper gowns private,” because she wanted to get through “the hardest parts” before sharing her diagnosis with the world.
She thanks her friends, family, doctors, and partner John Mulaney for their support and love:
I’m so thankful to John 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.
Olivia says she hopes her admission helps others find “comfort, inspiration and support” on their cancer journeys, and encourages other women to ask their doctors to calculate their Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score.
Here’s the post, which features pictures and video of Olivia in the hospital:
Olivia made a few public appearances in the latter half of 2023, but largely laid low. Now we know why. This past January, she and John Mulaney made their red carpet debut at the Academy’s Governor Awards. They also went to Sunday’s Oscars, where John was a presenter. The header pic is Olivia at the Vanity Fair Oscar party.
I’m glad Olivia caught her breast cancer early and did what she had to do to take care of it. Sounds like hell. As always, f*ck cancer to the moon and back.
