“Baywatch” star Nicole Eggert revealed she has been diagnosed with stage 2 cribriform carcinoma breast cancer.
The 51-year-old actress said she gained 25 pounds in three months, and felt “terrible pain” in her left breast in October, according to People. She found a lump in her left breast during a self-exam and had to wait until December for an appointment with an oncologist. “It really was throbbing and hurting,” she told People.
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 08: Actress Nicole Eggert arrives at the 2005 DVD Exclusive Awards at the Annenberg Building at the California Science Center on February 8, 2005, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
She is reportedly awaiting an oncologist’s report to determine whether the cancer has spread to other parts of her body and to determine a treatment plan. She is likely to require surgery to remove the lump, as well as chemotherapy and radiation, according to People.
“I can definitely feel it,” she said, as she spoke of 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,” Eggert told People.
CULVER CITY, CA – AUGUST 01: Actress Nicole Eggert arrives at the Comedy Central Roast Of David Hasselhoff held at Sony Pictures Studios on August 1, 2010, in Culver City, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
The actress described the stress associated with her diagnosis.
“I have panics where I’m like, just get this out of me,” she said. “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.”
As a single mother of two children, Keegan, 12, and Dilyn, 25, Eggert said her “biggest fear” is how her kids would be affected by her diminishing health. (RELATED: Fans Donate To ‘Home Alone’ Actor As He Faces Life-Saving Surgery)
“[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. “It immediately made me realize, 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.”
“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. “I panic because I’m like, well, who’s going to cover all the bills? Who’s going to do all of this?”
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A GoFundMe page has been established to help alleviate Eggert’s financial stress.