Olivia Munn has revealed her bilateral breast cancer was ‘much more terrifying’ because she was caring for a toddler.
She and her boyfriend John Mulaney share a two-year-old son called Malcolm, who was just one when Olivia was diagnosed a year ago.
This March, she revealed that she underwent four surgeries in a 10-month period as part of her cancer battle, including a double mastectomy.
Now, in a cover interview with People, she has laid bare the harrowing process of driving the illness into remission, which ‘was a lot tougher than I expected.’
The 43-year-old actress disclosed that she is now going through medically induced menopause in order to reduce the risk of a recurrence.
Olivia Munn has revealed her bilateral breast cancer was ‘much more terrifying’ because she was caring for her son Malcolm, two, whom she shares with her beau John Mulaney
Now, in a cover interview with People , she has laid bare the harrowing process of driving the illness into remission, which ‘was a lot tougher than I expected’
In March, she revealed that she underwent four surgeries in a 10-month period as part of her cancer battle, including a double mastectomy
‘I’m constantly thinking it’s hot, my hair is thinning, and I’m tired a lot,’ said Olivia, whose menopause is the result of hormone suppression therapy.
She shared that when she underwent reconstructive surgery after her double mastectomy, she opted for smaller breasts rather than larger ones.
‘I know a lot of women want to go bigger, but [I said] go smaller. It’s so important to say what you want out loud – and don’t stop,’ she said. ‘Even as the anesthesia was making its way into my body, the last thing I said was: “Please go smaller.”‘
Olivia’s cancer battle began last year with an astonishing diagnosis – just three months after she had a mammogram that indicated she was healthy.
Her surprise was compounded by the fact that had gotten a negative test for a cancer gene mutation not long beforehand.
She ‘did all the tests that I knew about’ and as a result was ‘walking around thinking I had no breast cancer’ shortly before she was diagnosed.
When she received news that she had cancer in both breasts, she ‘was not someone who obsessed over death or was afraid of it in any way’ but confessed that ‘having a little baby at home made everything much more terrifying.’
Olivia, who was about to start shooting a film at the time, realized ‘cancer doesn’t care who you are; it doesn’t care if you have a baby or if you don’t have time. It comes at you, and you have no choice but to face it head-on.’
Olivia’s cancer battle began last year with a shock diagnosis – just three months after she underwent a mammogram that indicated she was healthy
When she received news that she had cancer in both breasts, she ‘was not someone who obsessed over death or was afraid of it in any way’
Olivia, who was about to start shooting a film at the time, realized ‘cancer doesn’t care who you are; it doesn’t care if you have a baby or if you don’t have time’
Her medical team underwent a double mastectomy and also gave her the option of having a nipple delay procedure in order to preserve her nipples
Although having little Malcolm at home made the initial news scarier, the task of taking care of him helped Olivia cope with her treatment.
‘When I’m with him, it’s the only time my brain doesn’t think about being sick. I’m just so happy with him,’ she explained.
‘And it puts a lot of stuff into perspective. Because if my body changes, I’m still his mom. If I have hot flashes, I’m still his mom. If I lose my hair, I’m still his mom. That’s really what matters the most to me. I get to be here for him.’
Her medical team underwent a double mastectomy and also gave her the option of having a nipple delay procedure in order to preserve her nipples.
Although the latter procedure was not mandatory, she opted to go through with it ‘to give myself the best shot of keeping the parts of me that I can keep.’
The treatment process was psychologically fraught, as ‘[t]here’s so much information, and you’re making these huge decisions for the rest of your life.’
Olivia remembered: ‘I really tried to be prepared, but the truth is that nothing could prepare me for what I would feel like, what it would look like and how I would handle it emotionally. It was a lot tougher than I expected.’
Once the operation was over, the doctors discovered a ‘tangerine-sized’ pre-invasive cancer in her right breast, which ‘gave me peace that I’d made the right decision.’
Having John around also helped her get through her cancer battle, which ‘would’ve felt like climbing an iceberg without him’; pictured at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party last month
‘Keeping it private for as long as I did allowed me time to fight without any outside noise at all,’ the Oklahoma native said; pictured this past September
Having John around also helped her soldier through her struggle with her illness, which ‘would’ve felt like climbing an iceberg without him.’
She recalled: ‘I don’t think he had a moment to himself, between being an incredibly hands-on father and going to and from the hospital – taking Malcolm to the park, putting him to nap, driving to Cedars-Sinai, hanging out with me, going home, putting Malcolm to bed, coming back to me. And he did it all happily.’
Olivia also shed light on her decision to remain secretive about her cancer battle until months after she went through her double mastectomy.
‘Keeping it private for as long as I did allowed me time to fight without any outside noise at all,’ the Oklahoma native said.
Olivia and John’s romance first went public in mid-2021, on the heels of the comedian’s split from his wife Anna Marie Tendler.
He announced that Olivia was pregnant in September of that year and they welcomed Malcolm into the world just before Thanksgiving.
The baby’s arrival was the culmination of a whirlwind 12 months, in which John’s marriage collapsed and he went to rehab for alcoholism and cocaine addiction.
When he revealed that his girlfriend was expecting, John declared: ‘Olivia and this baby have helped save me from myself in this early journey out of recovery.’
