Christina Applegate "100%" Cancer Free After Double Mastectomy

NEW YORK — Christina Applegate is taking the long view of her battle with breast cancer _ the really long view. Speaking on ABC News' "Good Morning America" in her first interview since announcing her diagnosis earlier this month, the "Samantha Who?" star said she had a double mastectomy three weeks ago. She'll undergo reconstructive surgery over the next eight months.

"I'm going to have cute boobs 'til I'm 90, so there's that," she joked in the interview, which aired Tuesday. "I'll have the best boobs in the nursing home. I'll be the envy of all the ladies around the bridge table."

The 36-year-old actress elected to remove both breasts even though the disease was contained in one breast. She said she is now cancer-free.

Applegate called the operation a logical decision. Her mother battled breast cancer, and she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation linked to breast and ovarian cancer.

"I just wanted to kind of be rid of it," she said. "So this was the choice I made and it was a tough one."

The experience has been an emotional roller coaster, she said.

"Sometimes, you know, I cry and sometimes I scream and I get really angry and I get really like, you know, into wallowing in self-pity sometimes," she said. "And I think that's _ it's all part of healing, and anyone who's going through it out there, it's OK to cry. It's OK to fall on the ground and just scream if you want to."

The Emmy-nominated "Samantha Who?" star has kept her sense of humor intact.

"I've laughed so much in the last three weeks," she said. "I love living, and I really love my life, and I knew that from this moment on it was only going to be good that was going to be coming. Yeah, I'll face challenges, but you can't get any darker than where I've been. So knowing that in my soul gave me the strength to just say, `I have to get out there and make this a positive.'"

Applegate's cancer was detected early through a doctor-ordered MRI. She said she's starting a program to help women at high risk for breast cancer to meet the costs of an MRI, which is not always covered by insurance.

Applegate is scheduled to appear on a one-hour TV special, "Stand Up to Cancer," to be aired on ABC, CBS and NBC on Sept. 5 to raise funds for cancer research.

She has been nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the ABC show "Samantha Who?", in which she plays a woman who wakes from a coma with no memory of who she is.

Comments

[Tyrione]

She's one beautiful, adorable and witty woman. This proves she's intelligent to boot.

[Eric8869]

Christina is cute as a button. I saw her in Sweey Charity on stage and she was adorable.

I wish her all the best.

[BlueandGreen]

Glad Christina has maintained her sense of humor throughout the ordeal. If you can laugh in the face of adversity, you have a much better chance of surviving it. Good for her!

[heartpuppies]

God Bless Christina. She is making the best of something terrible that has happened to her and is now helping others affected by cancer. I wish her the best and a long and happy life.

[BartLA]

So tough to hear. I'm a man who has had SO MANY female friends diagnosed with breast cancer. They've all gone through varying degrees of surgeries, chemo, radiation, etc. etc. It's a tough fight and so hard when there is single and double masectomies involved. God bless you Christina and may you have a LONG HEALTHY life.

[Lauren Cahn - Huffpost Blogger]

I hope her reconstruction goes better than mine. I've been having surgeries every other year or so since 2002 after my double mastectomy, and no amount of work could put cute boobs on this petite body. I think that the more petite you are - I weigh about 100 pounds - the more difficult it is to make reconstructed breasts look good. There's no extra fat, so you kind of look like Barbie with big big scars. Sorry. It's just my reality.

[Forester]

What an amazing thing to read the SF Chronicle obits and continue to see all the young and productive woman who lose their long fights with breast cancer. It just seems so wrong that this problem remains so prevalent and devastating to so many families. The only war we need to be fighting is the war on cancer.

[mymatrix]

Amen to that, down with the war on other countries and war on drugs (blood suckers, money down the hole) and up with war on cancer.

[FdeBear]

Bless her. I wish her the best. I have always enjoyed her work. She made a difficult and courageous decision. She can always have breast reconstruction if she desires it. Long life to her.

[screwedrus]

What a horrible decision to be faced with. Such a brave young lady. I hope she remains healthy.

[MsLiz]

Christina Applegate is proof that one can be a beautiful woman and still be smart. Her courage is amazing. She did not have to go public with this, but she did, and she will help other women by her example.

[JennyJay]

So happy and glad that she is well now, and will stay well forever. What a tough thing to go through,
but she is classy and strong and will be fine.

[conniedogs]

God bless you Christina, may you live a long, happy life!

[josephbua]

I want to fill this entire comment box with the words "Early Detection is critical," but,

a) You should all know this by now, and ...

b) It would be annoying to other commenters.

But please remember you mammograms, ladies, and self-exam. Please.

[bettybrown]

ah yes, mammograms...that would be awesome, if only i had medical insurance. also, colon cancer at a young age runs on my mother's side of the family. her brother had it at 42, her father at 46, and she had it a little later - at 57. unfortunately, my mom's cancer was not caught in time, and she died at 58. her oncologist recommended that myself and my sisters start having colonoscopies by the time we are 40. i am now about to turn 39. i would LOVE to practice preventative health care, but without medical insurance, the best i can do is try my best to be healthy, and pray pray pray pray that nothing terrible like cancer happens.
good luck to christina, and i hope someday soon the western world will finally realize that these "boobs" men are making tactless "r.i.p." comments about are NOT the basis of what makes a woman a woman.

[QueenOfViolets]

When I read stories like this, I want to tell people that scientists have found that the active ingredients in marijuana can BLOCK the gene that teaches breast cancer cells how to metastasize.

Nobody wants to know this, it seems. But when I read stories like this, I just want to tell people -- there are things in nature that you don't suspect that could some day produce powerful therapies to defeat this illness.

Scientists are working on that now. But not in America. The work on marijuana and breast cancer is being done in Italy because it's too politically sensitive for America.

I think we should stop being so sensitive, and do this research in America, too, because this is breast cancer, and we should fight it with everything we can find to fight with.

If women are having double mastectomies to stop cancer, then we can do a little research on whether marijuana can stop breast cancer.

It's worth taking some political risks to defeat this dreadful and fearful foe.

[barackobama4prez]

420 is my friend......i will research this since i'm using the medicinal drug already

[screwedrus]

Gosh no! You're only allowed to DRINK your drugs in this country. Your TAXABLE drugs, that is.

I think it would be fantastic if something that these moronic politicians have vilified for decades turned out to be a wonder cure.

[BlackJAC]

Very well; produce the documented findings.

[tweeksmom]

Breast cancer took my mother. After that happens, a daughter just tends to feel the evil disease always stalking her, too. God bless Ms. Applegate but as another poster pointed out, you are never out of the woods with cancer. Especially breast cancer. No matter what extremes you must go to in treatment (slash, poison, burn) it tends to go away and hide somewhere for about five years. When it comes back it is usually really pissed off.