Olivia Munn Details “Terrifying” Breast Cancer Journey
This Mother's Day, Olivia Munn is sharing a heartbreaking but hopeful personal update amid her recovery from breast cancer.
The 43-year-old revealed that that in April, she made the decision to undergo a full hysterectomy, which marked her fifth surgery since she was diagnosed with the disease last year.
"I have now had an oophorectomy and hysterectomy," she told Vogue in an interview posted May 12, two months after she went public with her diagnosis of luminal B breast cancer in both her breasts. "I took out my uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries."
According to the magazine, Munn decided to undergo the procedure instead of continuing to take injections of Lupron, or leuprolide, which lowers the body's level of estrogen—a hormone on which her particular form of cancer feeds. The medication, which is also often used routinely in IVF and egg freezing treatments, can lead to multiple side effects such as extreme fatigue. For Munn, it was simply unbearable.
"It was next-level, debilitating exhaustion," she said. "I would wake up in the morning and almost immediately need to get back into bed."
photosStars React to Olivia Munn's Breast Cancer Diagnosis
The Newsroom alum, who shares son Malcolm, 2, with partner John Mulaney, continued, "If you asked Malcolm, 'Where does Daddy work?' He'd run to his [dad's] desk, and if you asked him, 'Where does Mommy work?' He'd point to my bed. It was so sweet. But at the same time, it was breaking my heart because this is his image of me."
Previously, Munn underwent a full double mastectomy to remove all the tissue in both breasts, a lymph node dissection, reconstructive breast surgery and a nipple delay, which improves blood flow and circulation to the areas before a mastectomy.
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She told Vogue that while a full hysterectomy was a big decision, it was the best one for her, adding, "I needed to be present for my family."
While the actress won't be able to become pregnant, she and John still plan to expand their family through surrogacy. Munn told Vogue she froze her eggs three times since age 33, and most recently last year after learning she had breast cancer, and that "two healthy embryos" were created from her latest round of IVF.
"A surrogate isn't a scary prospect to me anymore because there's nothing I can do," Munn said. "I don't have the ability to carry a baby anymore, so if we want to build our family, this is our option."
She continued, "This journey has made me realize how grateful I am to have options for not only fighting cancer, but also having more children if we want, because I know a lot of people don't have those options."
After Munn's interview was posted, John paid tribute to his partner on his Instagram Stories. "My son has the most incredible mommy and he knows it," the comedian wrote. "It's the most loving and silliest relationship I've ever seen. Happy Mother's Day, Liv."
Look back at Olivia and John's family photos over the years…