Nicole Eggert's Breast Cancer Journey
- “Baywatch” star Nicole Eggert, 52, is reviving her acting career with a TV mini-series “After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun,” that’s set to start streaming on Hulu on August 28. The new docu-series comes as Eggert as been battling stage 2 cribriform carcinoma breast cancer—a disease she was diagnosed with last year, following a self-breast exam.
- Stage 2 breast cancers are either larger than stage 1 tumors or have moved to a few nearby lymph nodes. Treatment will likely be some combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. If chemotherapy is also needed after surgery, the radiation is delayed until the chemo is done. The same approach is taken to hormone receptor and HER2 positive as stage 1.
- In Eggert’s case, her treatment included eight rounds of chemotherapy over the course of six months, and it will now be followed by surgery to remove the cancer. She revealed in a recent social media post that she’ll soon be preparing to undergo a mastectomy [breast removal] and reconstruction.
- We admire Eggert for continuing to work and attend promo events for the upcoming “Baywatch Again” series. People who work in the oncology field, doctors and social workers, have told SurvivorNet that they recommend working during cancer treatment if you can.
- Remember, whether it may be for financial reasons, a sense of normalcy, or simply because you like what you do, it’s important to make a work schedule that suits you during your cancer journey.
The four-part docuseries, from ABC News Studios and streaming only on Hulu, is set for release on Wednesday, August 28th.
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In honor of the upcoming show’s streaming date, Eggert shared some photos of her on social media of what appears to be a recent interview with Access Hollywood‘s Kit Hoover and Mario Lopez.
Alongside the images of her being interviewed on Access Hollywood, Eggert’s captioned read, “Big thank you to @accesshollywood for the love @afterbaywatch @hulu @abcnewsstudios Aug 28th‼️ @mariolopez @kithoover.”
Eggert is seen confidently in the photos with her shaved head, while wearing a red blazer, black tank top, blue wife-legged jeans, and nude heels.
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On IMBD’s website, the storyline for “After Baywatch,” explains, that producer and director Matthew Felker, actress Nicole Eggert, and actor Jeremy Jackson explain “why Baywatch became the most watched TV show in the world.”
Hulu announced the new series last month at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, USA Today reports.
During the press tour, Eggert, who is one of the executive producers of the new show, said, “I still see a lot of articles that show me at age 19 in my red swimsuit and then me at 52 years old in the market.
“And the articles are like, ‘What happened to her?’ Let’s talk about what happened.”
Eggert also admitted she previously had a “love-hate relationship” with “Baywatch,” but now “loves .. and appreciates” it.
“But everyone has such a great story. And there’s so much more than just their beauty and their time [during the filming of ‘Baywatch,'” Eggert continued.
“Life is a roller coaster. This is a chance for people to reveal their own journey in their own words.”
Nicole Eggerts Courageous Cancer Journey
Nicole Eggert was diagnosed in December 2023 with stage 2 cribriform carcinoma breast cancer after discovering a lump in her breast while performing a self-breast exam.
A self-breast exam is an easy way to keep watch for anything abnormal regarding your breasts. It involves feeling the breast for any swelling, bulging, or changes in the shape of the breast or nipple. Checking for signs of redness, rashes, or discharge is also part of this exam. If anything is found to be concerning, you should contact your doctor. It’s important to note that self-exams should be done with regular mammograms.
Expert Breast Cancer Resources
- Monitoring After Treatment for Breast Cancer
- Acupuncture Promising for Pain Relief from Some Breast Cancer Treatment
- Do You Have HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer? Here’s A Breakdown Of Some Of Your Treatment Options
- Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Treatments To Consider
- Genetic Testing Is Increasingly Driving Treatment For Breast Cancer And May Actually Help Lower Costs
Eggert said she initially started experiencing “terrible pain” and rapid weight gain that she first dismissed for signs of menopause. However, after she discovered a lump during a self-exam, a mammogram and multiple biopsies confirmed that she had breast cancer.
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The rare type of breast cancer Eggert has is often slow-growing and low-grade, according to Breast Cancer Now.
“I can definitely feel it. It’s there. It needs to be taken out. So it’s just a matter of do I have to do treatment before the surgery or can they perform the surgery and then I do the treatment after,” Eggert told People earlier this year.
Eggert also previously spoke on the “Tamron Hall Show” back in March that throughout her breast cancer fight she’s been able to maintain an optimistic outlook on life.
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She said, “Well, it is the irony because people say, ‘How are you feeling?’ and I say, ‘I feel the best I’ve ever felt.’ But for me, it was about controlling the controllables right, and what can I do?
“I’m gonna give chemo its day and its respect and what can I do to help my body along and for me, that was mind, body, spirit.”
Eggert’s chemo plan was estimated to take a total of six months. Now that she’s completed all eight rounds of chemo, her next step on her journey will be to undergo a mastectomy and reconstruction.
She explained in another recent video shared on her Instagram, “Hi. So, it is Friday, July 26th and I just left meeting my surgeons and the words they used were I ‘had a full, complete response [to her chemo].'”
“What does that mean? My body fully responded to the chemo,” she continued, while shedding some happy tears. “No detectable cancer in that area and I have the green light to go ahead and schedule surgery.”
She confirmed that the upcoming surgery she’ll be undergoing is a mastectomy and breast reconstruction, something she said “will be a whole journey of its own.”
Eggert then exclaimed, referring to her chemotherapy treatments, “It worked. It worked. It worked!” She concluded, “What a way to celebrate. What a way to end the week. It’s a Friday. It’s my daughter’s birthday and I’m going to celebrate the heck out of her.”
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Understanding Breast Cancer Treatment
If you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer it’s important you evaluate your treatment options. Treatment may include:
SurvivorNet expert, oncologist Dr. Ann Partridge discusses the challenges of diagnosing and treating treating aggressive breast cancers in young women.
As for chemotherapy, it’s a form of treatment that uses strong drugs to kill cancer all over the body. You may get this treatment to shrink a tumor before surgery, afterward to get rid of any remaining cancer cells, or on its own if you can’t have surgery.
Whether or not to have chemotherapy can also be a choice, depending on a woman’s age, type of cancer, and stage.
As for radiation, the use of high-energy rays to destroy cancer cells, it is also used after surgery to lower the chance that the cancer will come back after treatment. Many women undergo radiation as part of their treatment, especially if they opt for a lumpectomy instead of a mastectomy.
Meanwhile, the hormones estrogen and progesterone help some breast cancers grow, and doctors refer to these types of cancers as hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers. Receptors are proteins on the surface of breast cells that receive messages from estrogen, progesterone, or both, telling them to grow. Treatments that block these hormones may help stop the tumor.
Testing the tumor sample from a biopsy helps to determine whether hormone therapies such as tamoxifen (Nolvadex) or anastrozole (Arimidex) might work against the cancer. Women with breast cancer that is fueled by estrogen may take one of these drugs as part of their treatment.
Lastly, immunotherapy and targeted therapies are newer forms of treatment. Immunotherapy boosts your body’s own immune response to help it stop the cancer.
As their name suggests, targeted therapies target certain substances that help the cancer grow. For example, drugs like trastuzumab (Herceptin) and pertuzumab (Perjeta) treat breast cancers that have too much of a protein called HER2 on their surface.
Working Through Cancer
SurvivorNet experts say working during cancer treatment, if you’re able to continue performing your regular duties, like Nicole Eggert has continued to do, can help your prognosis.
Doctors and social workers in the oncology field have told SurvivorNet that they recommend working during cancer treatment because work can establish a sense of normalcy in a person’s life.
WATCH: Working during cancer treatment.
It provides a needed source of income and reminds you that you have a life apart from cancer as a valued employee, a great boss, or a trusted co-worker.
A work-life also encourages regular contact with others. Sometimes, cancer can make you feel isolated and lonely, and being around people can be a great comfort.
It’s important to talk with your doctor before taking the big step of returning to work, whether in an office, a warehouse, or on camera, in Eggert’s case. Some people can continue to work during cancer treatment, and those who need to take some time away.
It depends on the person, their cancer, and the treatment.
“Some women choose to continue working [through cancer] because working is a significant part of their identity, they enjoy the job, and there’s flexibility built in,” Laurie Ostacher, a social worker at Sutter Bay Medical Foundation, told SurvivorNet.
“I help folks think about whether it makes sense to work. If you don’t want to but are worried you’re not going to be able to make ends meet, then I’ll sit down and help them figure out, you know, with your disability insurance, would this be possible?”
No matter what, it’s important to do what’s right for you and seek out valuable resources like Ostacher if you need help deciding on the right course of action for working during a cancer battle.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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