Just days after revealing she was on the road to recovery following a secret cancer diagnosis, American actress Jenna Fischer has said one of her A-list gal pals had a pretty surprising reaction to her hidden health battle.
Namedropping fellow TV star Christina Applegate, the US Office favourite described her pal's reaction as 'salty' as she lifted the lid on her current status.
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Fischer, 50 - known for playing Pam Beelsey alongside co-stars John Krasinski and Steve Carrell in the hit workplace mockumentary - broke the news of her life-changing diagnosis earlier this month.
Taking to social media, the mother-of-two shared a series of recent snaps while revealing how she'd been faring of late.
In a lengthy caption, the actress told her followers that a year prior - in October 2023 - a routine mammogram resulted in a biopsy, after which she was diagnosed with Stage 1 Triple Positive Breast Cancer.
Fischer explained that while it was an 'aggressive form of breast cancer', it was also 'highly responsive to treatment', and that after a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation, she was left 'feeling great'.
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Now, appearing on the Today show, the Blades of Glory star not only gave her fans an update on her health, but she let viewers in on one of the first people she called following her diagnosis - fellow actress Christina Applegate.
And while one might have expected the Dead To Me front-woman to have served as a shoulder for Fischer to cry on, she says the conversation with her dear friend was much more brutal than she'd initially expected.
Recalling the telephone conversation, Fischer explained: "I called her, and she answered the phone, and she said, 'Which one is it?'.
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"And I said, ‘It’s breast cancer.’ And she said, ‘I effing knew it.'"
Fischer went on to joke: "She’s salty. Salty language that one. I love her for it."
Thankfully, Anchorman actress Applegate then put her best friend in touch with a group of fellow cancer survivors she knows, with Fischer claiming the women went on their journey 'together'.
The actress further delighted viewers by revealing that her latest screenings indicated that she was cancer free.
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Asked what has seen her through these tough times, she not only credited her children - a son, 13, and daughter, ten - and her filmmaker husband Lee Kirk, but both humour and an attempt at normalcy.
"Humour helped through all of this," she insisted. "And working helped. And staying in the world helped.
"My oncology nurse, Ron, was an amazing man. When I started chemotherapy, he said to me, 'Listen, I want you to get up every day, and I want you to walk. Every day.'"
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Fischer went on to recall: "'I want you to drink a ton of water. Walking and water. That’s what I want you to do. And I want you to take care of those kids.
"'The women who get up and at it are the women who do better in my experience.'"
Topics: Cancer, Health, TV And Film
Rhianna Benson