‘The Office’ star Jenna Fischer opens up about breast cancer in first interview
.jpg "Jenna Fischer talked about her breast cancer diagnosis in an interview with Hoda Kotb.")
“The Office” star Jenna Fischer is opening up about how her outlook on life has changed since being diagnosed with breast cancer last year.
“All of the most important things became so clear so quickly,” she said during an emotional interview with the “Today” show’s Hoda Kotb on Oct. 21. “I find the world to be such a beautiful place in all of its quirkiness.”
She went on to explain how even things that used to irritate her, don’t irritate her as much now.
“Even things that used to irritate me, I now sometimes find charming. … ‘Oh look at you, cute traffic,’” she said, bringing her inner voice to life.
“Look at all the people just going places. Oh that guy’s mad!” she continued.
Fischer, 50, was diagnosed with Stage 1 triple-positive breast cancer in December. She kept the diagnosis under wraps until Oct. 8, when she revealed the news to fans in an Instagram post.
“After completing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, I am now cancer free,” she wrote in the caption.
While speaking with “Today,” Fischer shared the advice she has for other women who might be going through a similar journey.
“You’re going to get off that bench, just like I did. You’re going to get your life back,” she told Kotb. “You’re not even going to believe all the beauty and wonder that’s ahead of you in this journey.”
Of all the things Fischer has to be thankful for this holiday season, her husband, Lee Kirk, is at the top.
“My husband Lee was absolutely incredible,” the “Office Ladies” podcast co-host said.
While a “typical morning” for the couple consisted of waking up, making school lunches and taking their children to school, things changed once she learned of the diagnosis.
“But under the circumstances,” she explained, ”the most I could do was just get downstairs and just sit at the table with a cup of coffee.”
Her husband was there to do the rest.
Fischer and Kirk have been together since 2008. They got engaged in 2009 and tied the knot in 2010 before welcoming their son, Weston Lee, in 2011, and a daughter, Harper Marie, in 2014.
As for the one thing she wanted her children to know about her diagnosis is the truth.
“The biggest thing I wanted them to know is that any ways in which I seemed sick during this process were side effects of treatments, they weren’t cancer making me sick. They were side effects,” she said.
Fischer had a lumpectomy to remove her tumor in January. She underwent 12 rounds of chemotherapy and three weeks of radiation. She continues to take medication, but is now cancer-free.
To celebrate, Fischer rang a bell in her backyard with her husband and children, who made it rain with confetti in the background. She shared a photo of the special moment on Instagram.
