Nicole Eggert has opened up about being diagnosed with breast cancer.
The Baywatch alum spoke to People about receiving her stage 2 cribriform carcinoma breast cancer diagnosis back in December 2023. Originally, the actress said she experienced symptoms such as gaining 25 pounds in three months in addition to “terrible pain” in her left breast, and assumed it was nothing serious and only part of menopause.
Eggert didn’t end up going to the doctor until she felt a lump in the same breast. “It really was throbbing and hurting,” she told the outlet.
“I immediately went to my general practitioner and she told me I had to immediately go get it looked at. But the problem was I just couldn’t get an appointment. Everything was booked. So I had to wait until the end of November to get it done.”
After receiving a mammogram and three biopsies, it was determined that the lump was in fact cancer.
“This journey’s been rough for me. This hasn’t been a breezy sail through life,” the Charles in Charge star said, but added that she does have a coping skill for when her situation looks bleak. “I always read inspirational quotes and corny stuff, but it gets me through.”
As for next steps, Eggert needs surgery in order to remove the lump and is waiting for her oncologist to determine when she will start chemotherapy and radiation. The actress is unsure whether or not the cancer has spread beyond the one area.
“I can definitely feel it,” she said about the lump in her breast. “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.”
“I have panics where I’m like, just get this out of me,” she added. “You sit there and it’s in you and you’re like, every second that passes and it’s inside of me. It’s growing, and you’re just like, you just want it out.”
Although Eggert does have a family history of cancer, with her father having skin cancer and her mother having colon cancer, she explained that her “biggest fear” with this diagnosis is not being around for her two daughters, 12-year-old Keegan and 25-year-old Dilyn.
“[Dilyn’s] an adult, but I have a 12-year-old at home where I’m the only caregiver. I have no family. I have nothing,” she said, pointing out “the horror” on Keegan’s face when telling her about the diagnosis. “It immediately made me realise, there’s just no succumbing to this. This is something I have to get through. This is something that I have to beat. She needs me more than anything and anybody.”
Because of how expensive medical bills can be, one of Eggert’s friends, Mindy Molinary, created a GoFundMe page to help her out financially. When speaking with People, the Baywatch alum admitted that finances are one of her biggest stresses in terms of being a single parent.
“My fear is that my everyday hustle, everything that I do to keep everything going is going to come to a screeching halt when I’m not feeling well or I’m sick or I’m in the hospital or whatever is going on,” she said. “It’s just so overwhelming, and I’m just doing everything I can not to spiral. At night when I lay down, I panic because I’m like, well, who’s going to cover all the bills? Who’s going to do all of this?”
