How Olivia Munn is protecting her family’s future in her “fierce” breast cancer battle
Olivia Munn said she was “finally feeling better” while undergoing aggressive treatment for malignant cancer: In March, The actor shared that she was diagnosed with Luminal B cancer in both breasts and had undergone a double mastectomy as part of her treatment.
in one New interview with fashion magazinepublished on Sunday, Munn shared some specific details about the surgeries she has undergone to deal with the disease, as well as that she and her partner John MullaneyWho shares their two and a half year old son Malcolm“didn’t feel like we were done growing our family,” even though her treatment meant that getting pregnant again was not an option for her.
Munn has not only urged her followers to be vigilant about their own health, but also shared specifics about what led to her diagnosis and what happened afterward. Specifically: Double mastectomy, lymph node dissection, the aforementioned breast reconstruction surgery, a procedure called nipple delay that provides different blood flow pathways to preserve Her nipples survived after removal of breast tissue during a mastectomy and, since last month, an oophorectomy and hysterectomy.
“I had my uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries removed,” Munn, 42, said. fashion magazine. “Invasive cancers require aggressive treatment.”
Because her type of cancer feeds on estrogen, she took a drug to force her body into menopause, which caused “next-level exhaustion.” She chose her most recent procedures, even though it meant she wouldn’t be able to get pregnant again, to make the most of her quality of life with her son.
“It was a big decision but it was the best decision for me because I needed to be there for my family,” she said. “I had friends who tried to cheer me up by saying, ‘Malcolm won’t remember this. Do not worry.’ But I kept telling myself: ‘I will remember this, that I missed all of this.’ That was his childhood, but that was my motherhood, and I don’t want to miss out on any part of this if I don’t have to.”
However, that doesn’t mean Munn and Mulaney won’t have another baby. Munn has previously frozen her eggs and discussed how egg quality can vary from month to month and decrease significantly with age. “After being diagnosed, we decided to try another round of egg retrieval and hope it was a good month. John and I talked about it a lot and we didn’t feel like we were done growing our family, but we also didn’t know if I would have to have chemotherapy or radiation.”
The actor was refreshingly specific about the procedure: She shared that doctors harvested seven eggs — fewer than she initially expected — and obtained two healthy embryos, many than she thought. She and Mulaney had hoped for just one chance to grow their family, and when doctors shared the news that the two embryos were healthy, “John and I started crying. That was exciting because not only did we get it in one retrieval, but it also meant I didn’t have to keep putting myself in danger. It was great.”
She then had her reproductive organs removed, which allowed her to remove hormones that could promote cancer cells to recur. Munn talked about the possibility of growing her family with Mulaney in the future with the help of a substitute.
“A surrogate is no longer a scary prospect for me because there is nothing I can do about it,” she said. “I can no longer have children, so if we want to build a family, this is our choice. This journey has made me realize how grateful I am to have options not only to fight cancer but to have more children if we want them, because I know many people don’t have those options.”
