After being diagnosed with breast cancer last year, Jenna Fischer immediately wondered if she would lose her hair.
In an emotional companionship with TodayHoda Kotb which aired on Monday, October 21, the actress — known for her role in the Office – opened up about her decision not to shave her head during chemotherapy.
“When they told me I had to undergo chemotherapy, the first thing I thought was, ‘I don’t want to throw up and I don’t want to lose my hair,'” the 50-year-old recalled. “I didn’t throw up, but I lost my hair.”
“And that’s all us ladies talk about. How much I Googled hair and hair pictures and, ‘What’s that going to look like?’ It’s funny how I lost it, it doesn’t come out evenly,” she said. “He goes out on a whim. And so I started by having a big bald spot on this side of my head. And I would kind of do a really complex combing.”
OfficeJenna Fischer says breast cancer diagnosis made important things in life ‘so clear so quickly’
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After her diagnosis, Fischer underwent 12 rounds of chemotherapy starting in February, three weeks of radiation starting in June, and has since been treated with infusions of two other drugs.
She said that during her treatment journey, she did not think about completely removing all the hair.
“I’ve never had a big head-shaving moment,” she told Kotb. “I don’t know why. I was like, ‘Oh, should I cut it first? Should I shave it? What should I do?’ And I didn’t.”
“I’ve always had a little hair right here,” she continued. “I’ve always had a little bit of hair in the back. And since I was trying to stay secret, those little bits of hair helped with the illusion of hair. I kind of [looked] like Friar Tuck, nothing on top and then just a little something here.”
While adjusting to losing her hair, Fischer said she wore wigs and hats with hair on them — joking that her family called them “Wigats.” However, she is now ready to “ditch the wigs” and embrace her shorter hair.
Office Alum Jenna Fischer reveals breast cancer diagnosis
Jenna Fischer celebrates the end of breast cancer treatment with her family.
Jenna Fischer/Instagram
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Fischer first shared the news of her diagnosis in an Instagram post on Oct. 8 in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. After a lumpectomy and months of treatment, doctors told the actress that there were no more signs of cancer and that she was “feeling great.”
Although her infusion center didn’t have a bell, she celebrated the milestone in her backyard with her husband, Lee Kirk, and their two children: son Weston Lee, 13, and daughter Harper Marie, 10.
Fischer told her followers that she is sharing her story to encourage others to stay on top of their annual mammograms and ask their doctors to calculate their breast cancer risk score.
“If I had waited six months longer, things could have been much worse,” she said. “It could have expanded. When I saw women posting photos of their mammogram appointments on Instagram, I had to make my own (which I was late for). I’m so glad I did. Consider this your kick in the ass to do it.”
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Source: HIS Education