Olivia Munn is letting us in on her private battle with breast cancer. The actor revealed on Instagram today that she was diagnosed with the condition last year and underwent a double mastectomy.
“I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” she wrote in an Instagram post that included photos of Olivia at the hospital and during her recovery period. “I hope by sharing this it will help others find comfort, inspiration, and support on their own journey.”
“In February of 2023, in an effort to be proactive about my health, I took a genetic test that checks you for 90 different cancer genes. I tested negative for all, including BRCA (the most well-known breast cancer gene). My sister Sara had just tested negative as well. We called each other and high-fived over the phone. That same winter I also had a normal mammogram. Two months later I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” Olivia began.
In the past 10 months, the actor said, she has had four surgeries, “so many days spent in bed I can’t even count,” and has learned more about cancer, cancer treatment, and hormones than she ever could have imaged. “Surprisingly, I’ve only cried twice,” she shared. “I guess I haven’t felt like there was time to cry. My focus narrowed and I tabled any emotions that I felt would interfere with my ability to stay clearheaded.”
Olivia said she kept all her pain private, wanting the people she knows and loves to see her once she has more energy, when she can get dressed and get out of the house, “when I can take my baby boy to the park.” The Office Christmas Party star is mom to Malcolm Hiệp Mulaney, whom she shares with comedian boyfriend John Mulaney. In her Instagram post, she included a slide showing a framed photo of John and her son, which she placed by her hospital bed. “Thank you for fighting so hard to be here for us. Malc and I adore you. ❤️,” John wrote on Olivia’s Instagram.
In her post, Olivia explained that she learned of her diagnosis after her OB-GYN decided to play it safe at her annual appointment and calculate her Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score. That she did so saved Olivia’s life. The doctor discovered Olivia had a lifetime risk of 37 percent and sent her to get an MRI, an ultrasound, and then a biopsy. The actor said, “The biopsy showed I had luminal B cancer in both breasts. Luminal B is an aggressive, fast-moving cancer.”
Olivia had to undergo surgery. She wrote, “30 days after that biopsy I had a double mastectomy. I went from feeling completely fine one day, to waking up in a hospital bed after a 10-hour surgery the next.”
She is on the mend now. “I’m lucky,” Olivia concluded in her post. “We caught it with enough time that I had options. I want the same for any woman who might have to face this one day.”
