See Extreme Measures Christina Applegate Is Taking to Prevent Getting Cancer
After undergoing a double mastectomy in 2008, breast cancer survivor Christina Applegate has preventively had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.
45-year-old Applegate, who has a six-year-old daughter, was diagnosed with breast cancer nine years ago, and she had a double mastectomy to treat it. The same year she was diagnosed, her cousin was killed by ovarian cancer, Dailymail reports.
The actress told Today.com in an interview:
”Two weeks ago, I had my ovaries and [fallopian] tubes removed.
My cousin passed away from ovarian cancer in 2008. I could prevent that.”
Since Applegate is BRCA positive, which means a person is more likely to develop ovarian and breast cancers, she decided to have another procedure to decrease her chances of dying from cancer.
READ ALSO: Breast Cancer Survivor Proudly Displays Her Mastectomy Scar… Her Story Will Inspire You
She revealed that taking control of the situation and getting the procedure provided her with a sense of relief.
READ ALSO: Breast Cancer: 9 Things That Impact Your Risk
”That’s how I’ve taken control of everything. It’s a relief. That’s one other thing off the table. Now, let’s hope I don’t get hit by a bus,” she joked.
Looking to the future, the star is thinking about her 6-year-old daughter Sadie’s health.
”The chances that my daughter is BRCA positive are very high. I look at her and feed her the cleanest foods.
I’m doing everything I can on my end knowing that in 20 years, she’ll have to start getting tested. Hopefully by then there will be advancements.”
READ ALSO: Health Alert: Working Long Hours May Increase Cancer Risk and Heart Disease in Women
The star also shared that she visits her oncologist every six months and that she eats only organic foods.
According to her, she does this to reduce the amount of pesticides, fertilizers and other harmful chemicals she puts in her body, as this has been shown to reduce one’s chances of developing cancer.
”We grow our own vegetables. We’re a 100 percent organic house. My daughter is a vegetarian and practically vegan. That’s her choice,” she said.
The procedure that she had done is called a salpingo-oophorectomy, and it is designed to remove a woman’s ovaries and fallopian tubes at once.
READ ALSO: Ovarian Cancer: What Every Woman Should Know
The surgery decreases women’s chances of developing both breast and ovarian cancer, which is the fifth deadliest cancer for women and kills more women than any other gynecologic cancer.
Ovaries are organs that sit on either side of a woman’s uterus, and they contain eggs and regulate the production of hormones controlling their menstrual cycles. Fallopian tubes are what eggs travel through to get from ovaries to the uterus.
READ ALSO; ‘I Am Now In Menopause’ – Angelina Jolie Shares She’s Had Her Ovaries Removed
When a woman decides to have both removed to prevent a cancer diagnosis, the organs are typically taken out at the same time because they share a common blood supply.
Applegate’s recent operation is performed one of two ways: through an abdominal incision that is six to 12 inches long or laparoscopically, which requires three to five incisions that are about one to one-and-a-half inches long.
Photo credit: FilmMagic
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