Sofia Vergara Faced Thyroid Cancer When She Was 28

Coming on the heels of Sofia Vergara's growing entrepreneurial empire, the popular star spoke about being diagnosed with thyroid cancer 11 years ago, when she was 28, on last night's episode of ABC's Nightline.

"It was pretty scary," Vergara said, adding, "You always think 'death'; that's all you think when they tell you."

When she was first diagnosed in 2000, Vergara did not want to go public with the news, fearing the publicity it could generate. "Having cancer is not fun. You don't want to deal with anything else while you're going through it." she said in an interview with Health.com

The star and mother credits her son, Manolo, for keeping her focused on what's important during that trying time, saying "When you have a responsibility, like a kid or like a family, you cannot give yourself the luxury of going, of getting depressed."

Vergara also recognizes that it was due to being diligent about her health that her doctors were able to diagnose the thyroid cancer early. With a family history of type 1 diabetes, she had taken her son to an endocrinologist to be checked out. "The doctor wanted to check me, too, and he found a lump in my neck."

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Comments

[Sing Out and Slap Iron]

12:31 PM on 11/08/2011

I didn't know she was 39! Absolutely stunning.

[twinsis02]

08:18 AM on 11/07/2011

Who cares.

[Sing Out and Slap Iron]

12:32 PM on 11/08/2011

Then why post? Hope your twin has a better personality than you.

[Richard Aron]

03:11 PM on 11/04/2011

How did she recover? How did she maintain her beautiful figure? She's absolutely gorgeous and sexy, and so easy going.

[rigel1048]

03:11 PM on 11/04/2011

One of the most beautiful women of all time

[LivelyLexie]

03:00 PM on 11/04/2011

She's fortunate, she looks amazing and some thyroid cancer survivors (or even people with just a thyroid disorder) have their metabolisms pretty much ruined by it and have a very hard time keeping off weight.

[bradenton]

02:53 PM on 11/04/2011

Geez. I just had an "almost got hit by a bus" scare but its not on HP. What gives?

[raanghaus]

02:49 PM on 11/04/2011

she has a wonderful spirit..her beauty is non existent...her inner light can brighten a room.

[Gordon Hopkins]

02:35 PM on 11/04/2011

Bravo to her and her medical staff for having the forsight to run a routine check while at the office. Wife 20 plus year at war with Ovarian (GCT) cancer and surviving well. Trust the medical fraternity will make more advances for early detection and treatment. Cheers

[Okey Umez]

02:31 PM on 11/04/2011

Beautiful lady, with substance to boot!.

[hoofus42]

02:44 PM on 11/04/2011

Fresh, funny, beautiful and ABSOLUTELY sexy in the best way. Now why can't we have more of the delightful Ms. Vergara and a whole lot less of the Kardashians every day?

[virginmrq]

02:19 PM on 11/04/2011

i met her when she visited her friend who was in prison. she held my grandson. that was about 9 years ago.

[niceshoes60]

02:18 PM on 11/04/2011

My mom was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in back in the early '50s. The cancer & her thyroid gland were surgically removed and she had a child less than one year later. (She will be 80 on Sunday.)
Yes, cancer is scary, but this is one of those types that is so easily treated. As one person put it on Yahoo: "[Thyroid cancer] is not fatal. I was diagnosed in 11/06 when I was 25. I had surgery. It was fairly easy I had surgery on a Tuesday, was out of the hospital on Wednesday and I was out shopping on Friday.
After surgery, you'll most likely have to have Radioactive Iodine treatment. This again is pretty straight-forward. You just have to take a pill and limit contact with people, especially children for a few days. The purpose of this treatment is to kill off all of the remaining Thyroid tissue that the surgeon was unable to remove. Killing off the residual tissue will make it so it is easier to monitor you in the future for a reoccurance. Usually you will only need to do this once, but it is possible that you may need to have the treatment more than once. I had to do it twice and I actually go for my scan on friday to see if it worked."

[Sheila Caldwell Rushing]

09:10 PM on 11/04/2011

Hope it goes well for you.

[Statusnaturae]

02:20 PM on 11/04/2011

Fuera de serie.

[LostinSocialSpace]

02:08 PM on 11/04/2011

Sofia, W. Y . M. M?

[Adam Dray]

01:59 PM on 11/04/2011

She is just waaaaay too fricken hot!!! numnumnumnum!!

[geldonski]

01:58 PM on 11/04/2011

WHO?