Baywatch star, 51, diagnosed with breast cancer after missing strange symptoms

09 January 2024 , 09:31

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Baywatch star Nicole Eggert has been diagnosed with breast cancer

Baywatch star Nicole Eggert has been diagnosed with breast cancer after thinking she was going through the menopause.

The actress - best known for playing Summer Quinn on the hit 1990s TV series - has revealed she was diagnosed with stage 2 cribriform carcinoma in December 2023 after seeking medical advice for her symptoms. She described how she gained 25lbs in three months and had "terrible pain" in her left breast back in October.

Nicole, 51, then found a lump while checking her breasts and called her doctor for help. She said: “It really was throbbing and hurting. I immediately went to my general practitioner, and she told me I had to immediately go get it looked at.”

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Nicole starred alongside Pamela Anderson (Getty Images)

Talking to PEOPLE she then explained how she had an agonising wait to see a specialist because “everything was booked up,” and she “had to wait until the end of November to get it done.”

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Nicole had a mammogram and underwent three biopsies to diagnose her cancer but is yet to find out if it has metastasised and spread to other areas of her body. She will know undergo surgery and a subsequent course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy as decided by her oncologist.

She said of the lump: “I can definitely feel it. 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?”

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She also confessed that she has "panics" over the lump and is desperate to "get this out" knowing "it's growing every second that passes." Nicole's father had skin cancer and her mother had colon cancer so she is no stranger to what a diagnosis of the disease entails.

The star has admitted that she is trying to stay positive but as a single mum her "biggest fear" is what happens to hr daughters Keegan, 12, and Dilyn, 25. She stressed that while dilyn is an adult, she has "a 12-year-old at home where I’m the only caregiver," and that she has "no family. I have nothing."

Nicole previously admitted her 'biggest regret' was having breast augmentation

She also described “the horror” on her youngest daughter's face when she told her she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and how it "immediately" made her realise "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.”

She also admitted feeling that "it’s just so overwhelming," and that she is "doing everything I can not to spiral.” Meanwhile Nicole's friend Mindy Molinary has made a GoFundMe page to try and help her with the medical costs she will be facing.

Mindy said: “Nicole is tenacious and has always found a way to get by, but this is different. She will be unable to work while undergoing surgery and treatments. She has a long, scary road ahead and has a terrible time asking for help. I implore you to help my friend afford her medical bills as well as feel secure that she won’t be left without a home for her family during this extremely trying time.”

Ayeesha Walsh