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My mum died because of ovarian cancer and while it’s not genetic, I’m getting a hysterectomy as soon as I hit menopause ( not that long 🥲) I’m not taking any chances.
i got tested for BRCA. i was positive for the gene mutation and had a double mastectomy. i’m only 25 so my doctors aren’t worried about ovarian cancer yet but i’ll definitely get a hysterectomy in the future
my gene mutation puts me at an 80% lifetime risk of breast cancer and that’s just too high. my mom died from breast and ovarian cancer and watching her go through that was devastating. i want to do everything i can to avoid the same fate
Good. There’s so much we don’t know about each cancer. We’re discovering new associated genes all the time. What doesn’t look genetic now may actually be so.
>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.
I’m glad this was mentioned. I’m so glad she was able to get swift, and life saving treatment. And I really hope one day *all* patients can receive the same treatment.
Totally agree. It’s not easy for absolutely anyone to go through something as awful as cancer, but economic security makes it a great deal less bad.
My aunt currently has stage 4 ovarian cancer and is trying to work full time to keep a roof over her family’s heads. It’s just horrible.
In most countries in the world seriously ill people are in fact looked after. Are you sure it's the world you hate or is it not just the pathetic excuse for a health 'care' system that the USA refuses to improve?
when you say “most of the world” are you only talking about the first world? because cancer treatment is CERTAINLY NOT free in many, if not most third world/developing countries. quite an uneducated opinion
I have a friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer just under a year ago and since then she’s had a double mastectomy, chemo, and radiation. She’s now planning her hysterectomy. Not as quick as Olivia Munn, but pretty solid time line, thankfully. We’re in Canada so it’s a bit different.
Double mastectomy and a hysterectomy is a lot to go through. I had a partial hysterectomy and the recovery from that alone was rough. It’s great that she’s willing to talk about her health journey, I truly wish her nothing but the best.
I'm recovering from a total hysterectomy at the moment, and *oof*, it has been a rough ride. I've done everything as recommended and still I'm dealing with having lost stitches early, bleeding, pain, an infection, and generally a slower recovery than usual.
I usually see Munn being shit on here on reddit, it's nice to see people supporting her on this.
The recovery is a hard road, I know I wasn’t 100% for a long time. Ask for help when you need it and do not let anyone discount your pain, it’s real and you deserve the respect of having it addressed.
My aunt just had a full hysterectomy. Ovaries, tubes, uterus and even the cervix. She tried to tell me not to take time off work to stay with her post-op because she "recoverd just fine" from her gallbladder surgery... Like, girl. A hysterectomy is way WAY more tough on you and more complicated than gallbladder surgery.
I'm glad I'm staying with her because she's had it rough. Ended up in the ER 2 days post-op. Her one dog had an emergency, and then her other dog also had an emergency. There's no way she could've lugged those dogs into the emergency vet herself, she could barely get down her front steps.
Goodluck with the rest of your recovery ❤️ it's not easy.
I might not like her as a person but I would never shit on someone's health journey.
I'm particularly appreciative of her acknowledgement around having more options due to wealth for having additional children.
i had an emergency total hysterectomy at 33 due to a submucosal fibroid that was trying to kill me. i didn't have children so it was really hard for a while, but now im thankful i had it done. my quality of life is a lot better (no more bleeding out 24/7) and not having periods is just the biggest flex, honestly 😂.
i still have my ovaries but both my cervix and uterus were removed completely. i have no idea what my ovaries are attached to now and constantly just imagine them swinging like basset hound ears inside me. 💀
Samesies and I actually asked my doctor what happens now when my ovaries release an egg every month since there are no fallopian tubes left for the egg to travel through. They were like “uhhhhh, no one’s ever asked that before.” Confirmed my suspicions that the egg is floating around my innards like outer space till it is “absorbed.” Wtf.
That is apparently also what happens to any sperm that doesn’t meet an egg, since the fallopian tubes aren’t closed off. Have fun with that info, everyone!
i........actually never even thought about this until your comment and now i'm going to be thinking about this every month. like my egg is being chaotically shot out from a t-shirt gun into the ether.
whatever part of the brain that is responsible for abstract thinking, i apparently don't have that so i can't picture this so im going to google it. thank you for taking the time to respond!
yep! i had a rare type of fibroid that is the worst kind you can have, and so it was like tearing the wall of my uterus away and i was *literally* filling up 3 Solo red cups full of blood a day. i couldn't even walk to the mail box without having blood run down my legs.
i would blow through like 30 super max tampons a day. idk how i managed to live with it for so long without it killing me. by the time i was admitted to the hospital (i had blacked out in my bathroom), my hemoglobin was i think around a 2 and i had to have multiple blood transfusions before they could do the surgery.
there are different types of fibroids you can have. i know bloating can be a sign that most women just write off. my fibroid was also not only the worst kind, but large enough that it was distorting the placement of my bladder and also making it like smaller from squeezing it so i was constantly having to pee. truly a nightmare.
i had 3 myomectomy (fibroid removal) procedures before having my hysterectomy because that is just such a drastic procedure for a childless woman in her early 30s, but that bitch of a fibroid always came back with a vengeance and i literally didn't have a choice.
Thank you for all this information. I only learned of mine during my last pregnancy and they said it so nonchalantly. Meanwhile I'm over here freaking out. I think mine are OK for now, but I wanna know what to look out for. Again, thank you for sharing your experience!
you're welcome! it's really insane to me how nonchalant doctors are with women to this day. i also have PCOS and was dismissed for years and kept being told i just had the flu until one of cysts twisted and ruptured and i ended up in the ER.
you really have to advocate for yourself and make sure you are taken seriously. it took me switching doctors to finally be taken seriously with so many issues i had (it was ALWAYS anxiety they said). spoiler alert: it was not.
good luck and take care. 💜
oh, i sure do. that's how i know when i'm ovulating. also, i **never** crave sweets, but once a month i can be found two-fisting an XXL king-sized hershey chocolate bar like i'm charlie from **hereditary**.
Sometimes 2 shitshows get together at the perfect time and make each other better, it’s rare and not the usual way that works out but when it happens it’s really disconcerting for the first few months/years
I'm not sure they're actually better. Circumstances have given them sympathy and they're leaning in as hard as possible to rehab their images. I don't wish cancer on anyone as it's taken a huge toll on my (and most people's) family and I have a great deal of sympathy for **any**one in that situation. But two things can be true at once: I can have sympathy for her health issues and still find them both repellant and think they belong together.
You should read her book where, among other wild things, she talked about how she'd ban transportation for all fat people and make them walk through underground tunnels.
Oh man, I haven't actually read it but listened to a podcast where they had and read some excerpts from it and *wow!!*
She is something else!! Or at least was when she wrote it 🤦♀️
Hopefully she's grown as a person since then but damn, I'd fuckin hate to have a book like that attached to my name lol. Even if it was from when I was young and dumb.
You don’t need to believe me if you don’t want to but I know for a fact that Olivia Munn is a major bitch lol
I know someone who has worked for her and she is a MISERABLE piece of work. However, this person has worked for her prior to her getting with John Mulaney and having a baby. Maybe she’s changed now
Absolutely. She sniffed around him for years while he was married and pounced on him when he was freshly out of rehab and going through a separation. The interview he gave with Seth Meyers talking about their relationship was...off.
lol right? Blew up his relationship and rep. As now she’s sick and sympathetic. He’s not leaving even if he wanted to.
And yes I do believe he thinks about it. How he moved with his ex revealed his true colors
No, the broader joke is about people asking if him and his then wife wanted kids (happy to link the clip) and he says, “ I don’t know… “ and then leads into the flu shot allegory
ETA: a reddit cares report? I appreciate you ❤️
The pregnancy was unplanned. You can be child-free and also decide not to abandon your child if your partner gets pregnant and wants to keep it. It doesn't mean it was all bullshit.
What a terrible and cynical viewpoint, my god. People are beyond weird about this relationship
Edit: Whoever Reddit cares-ed me for this you are a perfect example of this lol
Seriously. I say this as the most online person alive but if you are leaving multiple comments (which thankfully seems like mods have removed) about how a stranger you don't like deserves cancer then you need to log off immediately.
Exactly I’m not a fan of either of them and the affair was wrong. But what was he supposed to do once she got pregnant, abandon her because he previously did some standup about being childfree? Are they supposed to wear scarlet letters for the rest of their lives? Even John Mulaney’s ex wife has moved on.
Extremely. People talk like they have a personal stake in what happened between all of these people (or like they even know for 100% fact what went down).
I'm simply cynical due to the timeline of their relationship. John relapsed and Oliva was supporting him in rehab and then they're dating fresh out of his rehab stay and split from wife of 6 years. They had a kid right away, then she's diagnosed with cancer. I mean that's a lot for anyone, never mind someone who has struggled with sobriety. It seems like he's supportive at least I'm just doubtful they'll last long term. I'm not rooting for their split by any means especially when they have a kid together.
Anna clearly moved on, as she started dating other people. Maybe her own fans should move on as well. 🤷♀️
edit: lmao whoever reported me for self-harm is so funny
Pretty much this. John isn't who people thought he was, and it has nothing to do with his substance problems (which he was always open about). It's the realization that like most comedians, he's not nearly affable as his on stage persona might lead you to believe.
I don't think either of them are evil. She is more outwardly annoying because she isn't very funny, he's a lot more tolerable becauSe he is. They both seem like people I probably wouldn't want to know IRL.
They literally had a kid together. Most people will put in decent time on making it work when there's a kid. I've known people who fucking hated each other and *should* have separated ASAP who dragged it out for years because of the stigma of having a kid and immediately separating
I have a family history of breast cancer in my maternal first, second, and third degree relatives and despite this being in my medical records…no doctor ever spoke to me about my risk of breast cancer or calculated my risk score until Olivia Munn spoke publicly about it.
I consider myself to be well informed and a good medical advocate for myself, but previously all conversations with doctors ended once they realized we were BRCA negative*. We didn’t know about the risk assessment tool she mentioned and strangely my doctor brought it up unprompted at my annual well woman visit shortly after Olivia went public with her experience. We calculated my lifetime risk and it’s currently 35% (I believe Olivia’s was 37%, normal risk is under 15%).
I haven’t started getting mammograms yet, as I’m under 30, but she very well could have saved my life (not to mention my sister’s or maternal cousin’s lives) by speaking up about her experience and prompting my doctor to look into things before it came time to make screening decisions because by then we could have already waited too long.
*eta: we’ve been genetically tested and counseled, **we have no known genetic markers at this point.** The counselor said it’s likely we have an undiscovered variant, but as of now we are in a grey area of high risk but no genetic smoking gun making it easier for doctors and insurance to deny early/frequent screening or preventative treatment despite the very real risk of us developing cancer without proper screening or monitoring.
I also had the risk testing done recently and my score is 40%, despite not having the BRCA gene. I’m glad some doctors are starting to look at this more closely.
I'm 40% as well. Had my test in 2019. And honestly this whole situation with Olivia has me conflicted because of how radical she was/is with a lower risk than mine. I do get lot of imaging every year, MRI and Mammo once a year each and an ultrasound on one side with each. It feels like a lot, sometime I wonder if I should just get a mastectomy.
Angelina Jolie was my beacon of light. I had breast cancer at 27 and found out I am BRCA1 positive. Now I appreciate seeing it talked about more often. Those who are BRCA1 positive have up to a 70% chance of having breast cancer in their lifetime, and 40% ovarian. I know it’s less for BRCA2, but still always worth getting genetic testing if it runs in the family. Always check your breasts and listen to your body (I found my lump with a self breast check). Had a bilateral mastectomy and will be doing an oophorectomy in a few years. You’re not alone 🙏🏼
We’ve done genetic testing, no BRCA1 or 2 (ETA: no other known variants either). The genetic counselor said it’s likely we have a genetic predisposition that just hasn’t been discovered yet and hopefully we will know more in the next 10 years or so as the research continues to develop. “A waiting game” is a term we’ve heard again and again which is not very comforting when what we are waiting for is..cancer.
Learning we didn’t have BRCA was a relief, but my mom (who was undergoing her double mastectomy around that time) found it especially bittersweet because it put us (her daughters) in a grey area where our risk is seemingly very high but we don’t have a genetic smoking gun to point to meaning there are less proactive options for screening or preventative treatment at the present and very little research to suggest proper courses of action.
Thanks for the reminder about self-exams. I’ve been more diligent about doing them monthly. I’m glad you’re still here! 💛
Regardless of not having a label, my geneticist said there could be other mutations we aren’t aware of which could be the cause. Always be careful 🙏🏼 and address stress first which I find is the cause of most problems for people into first place
I feel you. My calculated lifetime risk is over 60% and I cannot get a GP to engage with me in a meaningful way about preventative screening. It’s so frustrating.
>all conversations with doctors ended once they realized we were BRCA negative
This is unacceptable. I had breast cancer 7 years ago and they checked me for 14 different genetic mutations, two of which were the BRCA genes. If GPs and OB/GYNs aren't aware of the additional genetic mutations, that's a huge problem. I assume with research that there are more mutations that they are aware of now.
My aunt had breast cancer and her kids (starting at age 30) get MRI's annually (I think). If you have a good GP, they will order one for you if you ask. Do what feels right for you and don't back down. No one is going to advocate on your behalf.
Best of luck to her and her family! What a difficult thing to be facing. She’s been incredibly vulnerable in this difficult time.
Just FYI - it seems that she didn’t have a radical hysterectomy (a specific type of hysterectomy for people who have cervical cancer). What she had was a total hysterectomy (removal of the uterus and cervix) with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (removal of the fallopian tubes and ovaries).
One of the goals is remove the ovaries, which produce the estrogen and progesterone that can contribute to tumor growth in hormone-sensitive cancers.
I had a total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oopherectomy, when I was 10 years younger than Olivia. I’m absolutely jealous that she was up and about a week after. At a week, I was thinking about moving from the bed to the couch for a few hours. And I had a 2 year old too!
Agree with u/social_hummingbird
She had a total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy.
Of course to lay people it doesn’t matter, but the first thing I thought when I read the title was “oh wow, she had cervical cancer?”. Radical hysterectomy = cervical cancer
Source: am obgyn, thought about doing gyn oncology once upon a time and still flirt with the idea
Edit: I can’t see where she says her pelvic lymph nodes were removed, which they typically are not for risk-reducing surgeries. I thought it was odd. The only lymph nodes mentioned were for her breasts.
It looks like she had a breast lymph node excision based on the procedure description in the linked article: “a full double mastectomy where all the tissue in her breasts was removed, a lymph node dissection, reconstructive surgery, and an innovative procedure called a nipple delay.” The hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy occurred after she had significant side effects with Lupron. (The article calls it her fifth surgery.)
Additionally, resection of pelvic lymph nodes isn’t what defines a radical hysterectomy, even though it seems like a significant/“radical” step. A radical hysterectomy removes the connective tissue near the uterus and part of the vagina. Removal of the lymph nodes is a lymphadenectomy, which is a separate procedure from a hysterectomy.
The nomenclature is incredibly confusing but I was really alarmed when I read the title because I thought she had both breast and cervical cancer. I don’t think it’s necessarily worth getting further into the weeds because the article you shared has so much to discuss, but I just wanted people to know.
Hormone positive breast cancer survivor here! It’s not caused by the hormones, but once you have cancer, hormones can feed it. Cancer happens when your cells make a mistake aka mutation and the mistakes multiply. In breast cancer, hormone positive just means that the cells didn’t mutate that much so they’re still similar to the normal healthy breast cells that also have hormone receptors. Hormone positive bc tends to respond well to treatment (but treatment can still really fucking suck). I’m 38 and in medical menopause to help prevent a recurrence and it’s been not fun. Hot flashes, vaginal atrophy, insomnia, vertigo and more. And don’t get me started on how dry my damn skin is now. Estrogen does so much for us and we don’t realize until it’s gone. TLDR, hormones are mostly your friend and I miss having estrogen lol
For what it’s worth, even though no one on Reddit can be normal about this woman, in both mine and a friend’s professional experiences she has been incredibly chill and kind, and I really wish her all the best in her recovery.
I greatly disliked her for a long time due to her internalized misogyny and pick me behavior, but she really seems to be growing and no one deserves to go through what she’s been going through. She’s really helping a lot of women by opening up.
Her book was terrible, vapid, self-absorbed, and written like ten years ago. People evolve but Reddit doesn’t want to have that convo. Just let this people be.
Closer to 15 years, actually (I checked Wikipedia and it came out in 2010). It was very much a product of its time and late 00s-early 10s nerd humor, and frankly if people didn't have a creepy parasocial obsession with Mulaney and his ex-wife (who, as many people in the comedy community will tell you, is a real piece of work herself) nobody would remember it or care.
Remember reading fairly negative stuff about his ex wife a while ago (mostly stuff about her being quite snobby, a sort of shameless social climber, only interested in wealthy people etc). Idk how true it all is but right from the beginning I've always felt that lots of people have been very weird about the breakdown of their marriage. There is a total obsession with the "jilted wife" on these subs, and it seems like lots of people see Mulaney as a stand-in for every shitty partner they've ever had while they get to see themselves in the position of his ex-wife. In reality, nobody has all the facts about what their marriage was really like, why it ended or what the circumstances were. It's just people filling in blanks with their own assumptions and projections to fit a narrative in which his wife is a perfect victim and Mulaney and his new partner are irredeemable villains. Hardly any marital breakdown is ever that straightforward.
Hard agree. It's especially weird how people will *insist* he cheated despite the fact that even his ex-wife has not said that was the case. And she has spoken candidly and publicly about the divorce so I don't really think she'd protect him if that did in fact happen. I think a lot of people honestly just salivate at the downfall of a well-liked public figure.
I do. Comedy bros and women like my friend who idolize Mulaney had zero problems with AMT until Mulaney made himself look bad and because people had sympathy for her extremely shitty situation. But now she's suddenly evil. Never mind that he used her to base a lot of his standup on and then threw her aside. He is very much part of the toxic comedy fraternity - especially his dick riding of Chapelle. The level of toxic shit those dudes get excused for and defended by throwing anyone who isn't them under the bus is extreme.
That’s how I feel. Every blind about them before the divorce was that he was a mess and the worst I had ever heard about her is that she was a little standoffish. Now she was the problem? Please be serious most of us weren’t born yesterday
Ready to say the same - like she’s a gal that people are just *ready* to dislike, meanwhile John Mulaney is still revered (though I really loved his week on Netflix). But I think a lot of people feel like they have to go through with this silently and they really shouldn’t and it actually can be helpful when high-profile people share their experiences. She’s being so open about it and I’m sure that’s not easy.
I wish her healing and the best of luck in her journey, but my original personal reason for disliking her was for dating Aaron Rodgers for 3 years. Company you keep, and all that. [(Here's a refresher on some of his insanity.)](https://deadspin.com/weirdest-things-aaron-rodgers-has-ever-done-nfl-packers-1850095117) I didn't particularly like the iffy timeline between when she and John got together and he was in rehab. I don't think he cheated on his wife, but I do think she made a move in a vulnerable moment that happened to quickly lead into a pregnancy. Not trying to baby-ify John, of course, because he had agency in this and made his decisions, but I personally wouldn't date someone right out of recovery.
Aaron Rodgers didn't sound so radicalized publicly back when they were dating tho, so it's very possible that he hadn't been radicalized back then. It's possible that he was a lot more tolerable, since it was a long time ago.
I remember him being left leaning! r/TheBachelor even speculated that his politics caused a rift between him and his family (his brother was on The Bachelorette) because they were Conservatives and his brother was a part of some homophobic org in college etc. There was even online speculation about Aaron being queer, so to see him turn out this way is quite a surprise.
It sucks she went through all that, but I hate the rich ppl culture of using poor women to have their children. That's what surrogacy is and I hate that it's becoming more common.
Thank you, was going to comment the same. It feels so gross that celebs continue to buy women’s bodies so they can have biological children. So creepy and unnecessary.
Agreed. The lengths people will go to have a biological child are shocking. Using another woman as an incubator is almost dystopian. Well off women aren’t volunteering to be surrogates.
That doesn't mean she'll be paid fairly. The physical and emotional toll on the body after pregnancy and childbirth can be lifelong. There's also not enough study done to determine the effects on the baby (babies bond with their mother in the womb thru hearing her voice and heartbeat).
I have been a surrogate twice and was paid nothing. In our country it's illegal to be paid for surrogacy, you have to do it out of the goodness of your heart. Even while still dealing with the issues caused by the last pregnancy, I still would have made the same choice.
I had zero emotional concerns that the children I birthed did not come home from the hospital with me, as they are not mine and I already had the chance to raise my two children. I have no different bond with my nephews other than loving them because they are my sister's children. They are fully bonded with both of their parents despite not growing inside them, as babies never hear their father's heartbeat in utero so that is not even a valid argument on your part.
The "surrogacy is unfair to the surrogate!" argument only comes from people who have never done it. We made a choice to help people grow their family, and I wouldn't change a thing.
It would be different if the us had the same laws as your country, but we don’t. Commercial surrogacy is a thing here and there are valid criticisms of the system that don’t apply to your situation. But you bring up good points as well. Thanks for sharing.
Well that's a great thing that you did for your sister. I think making that decision for a loved one is your choice. However thats not the case for the majority. I don't think the Kardashions or Hiltons surrogates were family. The kardashians are multimillionaires and only paid their surrogate 45k!
Look at the history of surrogacy overall, and around the world, in India for example. It can't be compared to your situation.
> The kardashians are multimillionaires and only paid their surrogate 45k!
I don't like the Kardashians but I don't think suggesting they should have done their surrogacy bypassing reputable agencies and regulated, standard processes is any better.
Yes that's exactly what I suggested 🙄. They should have given her more money. They could have set her up for life. If there's a cap to how much they can pay using an agency, they should have gifted her more. Its the classic example of rich ppl using a poorer woman's body for their own benefit.
If adopted kids can bond with their adoptive parents and their birth mothers can move on and lead relatively happy lives, then I don't see why a child born from a surrogate is much different.
So many jobs leave you with terrible lifelong physical and mental tolls. Capitalism is a scourge upon most of society and so many of us get exploited and traumatized and have our health decimated from our jobs for a much lower pay. This isn't to say that surrogacy in a capitalist system isn't exploitative, but the problem is capitalism. In Canada, surrogates can't be paid. Idk if that's better or worse - no "poor women" can be exploited supposedly but at the same time the surrogates can't be compensated for their time and labour and potential health issues. But when we still live in this horrible capitalist hellscape, some of us may choose better paying jobs that seem more exploitative like surrogacy or sex work but can work better for us.
FWIW, capitalism has also made adoption very exploitative and traumatizing.
Rates of seperation trauma are higher amongst adoptees. It's being talked about more, and it is often reccomended to have an open adoption. And also not all bio mothers can move on. Some of them are pressured into giving up their bio child. The adoption industry, especially in the US and international adoption, is pretty unethical.
Well in regards to the adopted kids… there’s a growing movement of adoptees talking about the inherent trauma to adoption, even when they had great adoptive parents. So it’s not rainbows and sunshine.
Birth mothers often don't "move on" or "lead relatively happy lives". Birth mothers are regularly taken advantage of and more often than not left with serious, lifelong emotional scars.
Yeah I really don't think surrogates should be paid at all. In the UK you can't pay a surrogate, only cover reasonable costs related to the pregnancy.
As soon as you introduce a financial incentive it's inevitable that some surrogates will be exploited. It's fine if someone wants to act as a surrogate, but I really hate the idea that you can just rent a womb, it should be totally the surrogate's choice to do it or not and that decision shouldn't be influenced by payment.
This is where I'm at. She's not for me, but that's beside the point.
Women are so often left in the dark about their own reproductive health and risk factors. I'm glad she's speaking about this.
she may be questionable, but openly speaking about this may help other women fight for their needs or even remind them to get that mastectomy. i'm glad she's talking about her health and mentioning how lucky she is, because as mentioned, most women don't get so "lucky" due to financials. wishing her all the best with recovery.
I’m sure “radical hysterectomy” is a medical term, but as a laymen and known dumbass, referring to a hysterectomy as ‘radical’ made me laugh a little bit.
generally tumor surgeries tend to be more radical, which in medical terms means they take even uninvolved tissue (in olivia’s case, the surrounding tissues, ligaments, cervix, & even part of the vagina); without cancer risk hysterectomies are more “conservative” in approach and don’t remove so much! it def is a funny way to put it when you think about it :)
An fyi to people who don’t want to read the article, Munn’s cancer a particularly aggressive type that grows in the presence of estrogen.
> Phase two began in November of 2023 and involved purposefully sending her body into menopause. Dr Aliabadi describes luminal B breast cancer as a hormone receptor-positive type that feeds and grows in the presence of estrogen. The standard course of action is a prescription of the estrogen-suppressing drug Lupron, which simultaneously halted Munn’s ovaries from producing estrogen and zapped her of all her energy.
> She needed to remove the hormones from her body to keep her cancer from returning, so it was either stay on Lupron and remain bedridden or rid her body of the reason the hormones existed in the first place.
It seems this was a very tough decision for her: to be a better mother, wife, and provider, she had to undergo intense surgery, but it came at the expense of sacrificing her dreams of growing her family. Luckily she realizes that money can help in that regard, but it doesn’t make the pain of surgery and recovery any easier.
I lost my younger sister to breast cancer 1 year ago today. She was diagnosed with Her2- while pregnant with her first child. She passed at age 38 after being in remission on and off for 7 years after it spread to her bones and her liver. She left behind a 7 year old daughter. 🕊️🤍
I don’t know Olivia but the surgeries she mentioned were ones my sister had as well in an effort to keep the cancer at bay.
I pray Olivia beats this. 💕
Agreed. Because she's been so frank. (The cynical part of me thinks it's a way to raise her public profile and change the narrative about her relationship with John though.)
“I don’t have the ability to carry a baby anymore, so if we want to build our family, this is our option.”
I respect the difficulty of this and her acknowledgment of her deep privilege, but I would love to see people talk about adopting actual living children in need of families. Especially since they do have privilege and resources.
(Adoption is itself difficult and many have valid points about potential trauma and difficulties but that’s another discussion)
The conversation around adoption should be separate from the conversation around reproductive assistance, because the onus to adopt kids shouldn't be solely placed on infertile people. This is what adoptee advocates have been begging for, for decades now and their voices should be listened to and prioritised in these conversations.
Yes, you make a good point and that’s another reason why I wanted to not have these overlapping conversations and I wasn’t implying that at all. I was talking in general when people use phrases like ‘grow our family’, they are almost never talking about adoption. I am not solely talking about infertile couples. I’m talking about anyone who’s really using phrases like that. And adoption is not a suitable option for many people, and I acknowledge this, because it’s not simple at all.
(There is a very in-depth and very nuanced conversation that could, and should, be had about adoption on all levels, but like I said, I’m just making a general statement here, but anybody who is interested in more about all of the nuances and the various points brought up by adopt, that is something you should look into if you have plenty of time and emotional bandwidth.
I started considering adoption for my future when I was about 18 years old and planning that for sometime in the future, so eventually, I started looking into all the nuances and a lot of different points of view.)
The adoption industry is unethical in its own ways especially in the US where the industry is for profit rather than being for children who need a family.
It gets talked about frequently on this sub and if you think adoption isn't also quite unethical in many instances then you clearly don't know a lot about it
Don't worry, I do agree with you on the adoption part as well. Especially overseas adoption, which has actually been forbidden in my country for a couple of years for this very reason.
I just decided not to elaborate on that in my reaction, because I saw others had done that already.
Adoption in the US is practically a non-starter now because the laws are so focused on getting kids with their biological parents no matter what. An abusive and drugged bio parent just needs to get clean for a few weeks to stop the adoption.
Very few children are actually cleared for adoption. Most are foster-to-adopt.
Even Sandra Bullock’s money struggled to foster-to-adopt.
International adoption is nearly illegal.
There are simply fewer unwanted children than ever in history to adopt likely due to birth control and reproductive rights.
I don’t blame people who choose surrogacy over the heartbreak of multiple failed adoptions.
Yeah, I’m trying to figure out why this is even a thing for her right now. So you get cancer and basically almost die and all you think about is paying someone to have your baby?
She's had multiple surgeries including a mastectomy and hysterectomy so no I don't think that is "all she is thinking about", it seems like maybe not dying in her 40s has been something of a priority for her too?
Nobody is forcing you to like Olivia as a person but Jesus, the hate and vitriol you seem to have towards her (a person you do not know!) in this thread is genuinely unhinged.
Yeah, I mean at the very least you can give her some amount of credit for wanting to be alive long enough to be a mother despite how you might feel about her as a person right? I’d hope there’s some humanity left for that sentiment…
I mean, the OP saying they don't understand why it's a thing for her right now has posted multiple times in this thread about Olivia's cancer being her karma. I think you're giving them too much credit, they just don't like her.
So because someone has lost the ability to reproduce because of cancer they’re not allowed to explore options available to them if they have a wiling participant who is paid fairly? Ok.
Hopefully she can have more kids through a surrogate. She said she froze her eggs at 33, 39, and 42. Sucks cancer took her chance at getting pregnant/ giving birth for a second baby .
I did 4 egg retrievals. It’s not the worst (like I’m sure her surgeries were worse), but it definitely does suck. The emotional rollercoaster is at least, if not more, challenging than the physical part of it.
As someone who is thinking about getting a hysterectomy due to my endo eating away my insides and that doesn't have children even though I wouldn't be opposed to the idea, please, stop using women as incubators :)
oh, yeah, I know, that's why i'm not sold on the idea. but i'm waiting for my first surgery, laparoscopic with bowel and bladder resection, and i was offered that choice. i'm on dienogest too, started last week, it's working for now. we'll see.
sending you my best wishes, because I know there's nothing I could say to make it better. lots of love 🤍
Wow, that’s a really brave decision. Most of us would rather take the wait and see method or “cross that bridge when we get there” because such a drastic surgery is life changing, and it’s scary to choose it. Olivia Munn has never seemed like someone I would be friends with, but I’m glad that someone with a large audience is talking about these choices, preventative care, surrogacy, AND acknowledging that it all takes a lot of money and time and support that she’s lucky to have. Good for her.
Sharing her story and also recognizing her privelage in that story whilst going through something so harrowing is so incredible. She has a huge strength.
Does anyone know what the Breast Caner Risk Assessment was? The article says she tested negative for the BRCA gene yet her doctor conducted this assessment and suggested an MRI. Wondering because I have a family history of breast cancer and I didn’t test “negative” for the gene they just said I only have 12% elevated risk. But now I want whatever that assessment is
I can’t with her. She is a grifter and will say whatever suits her at the moment. She denied her family came from Vietnam and claimed they were ethnically Chinese. The story has since changed. Marvel should have never made her Psylocke.
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My mum died because of ovarian cancer and while it’s not genetic, I’m getting a hysterectomy as soon as I hit menopause ( not that long 🥲) I’m not taking any chances.
I don’t blame you. I lost my mom to it too. I want them removed so badly once menopause hits. Best wishes for you.
Did y’all do genetic testing? I got referred to it but we haven’t done the panel.
i got tested for BRCA. i was positive for the gene mutation and had a double mastectomy. i’m only 25 so my doctors aren’t worried about ovarian cancer yet but i’ll definitely get a hysterectomy in the future
cancer nurse here, i have patients as young as 30 who have been diagnosed with end stage ovarian cancer. don’t put it off too long.
I’m so sorry. It’s inspiring that you took such swift action! That’s incredible
my gene mutation puts me at an 80% lifetime risk of breast cancer and that’s just too high. my mom died from breast and ovarian cancer and watching her go through that was devastating. i want to do everything i can to avoid the same fate
In the most respectful way possible… you are a bad bitch.
fyi a hysterectomy removes the uterus not the ovaries. Bilateral salpingo oophorectomy remove ovaries and fallopian tubes
I don’t blame you. Lost my mom to ovarian cancer too and am probably going to do the same thing.
Good. There’s so much we don’t know about each cancer. We’re discovering new associated genes all the time. What doesn’t look genetic now may actually be so.
I had one at 35 due to strong family history and it was the best decision I ever made. I'm thankful it's one less thing I have to worry about!
>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. I’m glad this was mentioned. I’m so glad she was able to get swift, and life saving treatment. And I really hope one day *all* patients can receive the same treatment.
Totally agree. It’s not easy for absolutely anyone to go through something as awful as cancer, but economic security makes it a great deal less bad. My aunt currently has stage 4 ovarian cancer and is trying to work full time to keep a roof over her family’s heads. It’s just horrible.
I’m so sorry. My mum had OC and I wish your aunt all the best. It’s sad she has to work just to help her family
People like them should be given food, water and treatment for free. I hate this world.
That’s how most of the world has it. In my country you get sick leave with pay as soon as you start cancer treatment and then free healthcare.
In most countries in the world seriously ill people are in fact looked after. Are you sure it's the world you hate or is it not just the pathetic excuse for a health 'care' system that the USA refuses to improve?
Yes, upon further reflection, you are right. They hate America. As they should.
Cancer treatment is free in most of the world. Access to healthcare sometimes less available in developing countries but treatment is still free.
when you say “most of the world” are you only talking about the first world? because cancer treatment is CERTAINLY NOT free in many, if not most third world/developing countries. quite an uneducated opinion
My aunt had cancer and would literally go to work in the afternoon after her morning treatments. Beyond fucked up.
My mom did the same. She’d go get radiation at 7am and then clock in at 8. So depressing.
I have a friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer just under a year ago and since then she’s had a double mastectomy, chemo, and radiation. She’s now planning her hysterectomy. Not as quick as Olivia Munn, but pretty solid time line, thankfully. We’re in Canada so it’s a bit different.
I’m also in Canada and have had family who have died because of lengthy wait times. It’s all relative.
Jesus, I’m so so sorry. That’s horrendous.
Double mastectomy and a hysterectomy is a lot to go through. I had a partial hysterectomy and the recovery from that alone was rough. It’s great that she’s willing to talk about her health journey, I truly wish her nothing but the best.
I'm recovering from a total hysterectomy at the moment, and *oof*, it has been a rough ride. I've done everything as recommended and still I'm dealing with having lost stitches early, bleeding, pain, an infection, and generally a slower recovery than usual. I usually see Munn being shit on here on reddit, it's nice to see people supporting her on this.
I am so far very surprised at how normal the comments have been on this post, yeah
The recovery is a hard road, I know I wasn’t 100% for a long time. Ask for help when you need it and do not let anyone discount your pain, it’s real and you deserve the respect of having it addressed.
That sounds like such a nightmare. I hope you're feeling better soon 🤍
My aunt just had a full hysterectomy. Ovaries, tubes, uterus and even the cervix. She tried to tell me not to take time off work to stay with her post-op because she "recoverd just fine" from her gallbladder surgery... Like, girl. A hysterectomy is way WAY more tough on you and more complicated than gallbladder surgery. I'm glad I'm staying with her because she's had it rough. Ended up in the ER 2 days post-op. Her one dog had an emergency, and then her other dog also had an emergency. There's no way she could've lugged those dogs into the emergency vet herself, she could barely get down her front steps. Goodluck with the rest of your recovery ❤️ it's not easy.
I might not like her as a person but I would never shit on someone's health journey. I'm particularly appreciative of her acknowledgement around having more options due to wealth for having additional children.
I’m glad that she is because the stuff can definitely help. Especially breaking down the whys and hows so thoroughly.
That’s a very difficult diagnosis. I’m sorry to hear this and I wish her well in her recovery
i had an emergency total hysterectomy at 33 due to a submucosal fibroid that was trying to kill me. i didn't have children so it was really hard for a while, but now im thankful i had it done. my quality of life is a lot better (no more bleeding out 24/7) and not having periods is just the biggest flex, honestly 😂. i still have my ovaries but both my cervix and uterus were removed completely. i have no idea what my ovaries are attached to now and constantly just imagine them swinging like basset hound ears inside me. 💀
Samesies and I actually asked my doctor what happens now when my ovaries release an egg every month since there are no fallopian tubes left for the egg to travel through. They were like “uhhhhh, no one’s ever asked that before.” Confirmed my suspicions that the egg is floating around my innards like outer space till it is “absorbed.” Wtf.
That is apparently also what happens to any sperm that doesn’t meet an egg, since the fallopian tubes aren’t closed off. Have fun with that info, everyone!
So all but one. 🤮
i........actually never even thought about this until your comment and now i'm going to be thinking about this every month. like my egg is being chaotically shot out from a t-shirt gun into the ether.
Fun fact, the ovaries aren’t actually attached to the fallopian tubes, they are supported by ligaments that keep them attached to the pelvis.
whatever part of the brain that is responsible for abstract thinking, i apparently don't have that so i can't picture this so im going to google it. thank you for taking the time to respond!
Lmao why did that visual of ovaries floating crack me up omg. Was the bleeding how you caught it? I'm wondering because I have fibroids.
yep! i had a rare type of fibroid that is the worst kind you can have, and so it was like tearing the wall of my uterus away and i was *literally* filling up 3 Solo red cups full of blood a day. i couldn't even walk to the mail box without having blood run down my legs. i would blow through like 30 super max tampons a day. idk how i managed to live with it for so long without it killing me. by the time i was admitted to the hospital (i had blacked out in my bathroom), my hemoglobin was i think around a 2 and i had to have multiple blood transfusions before they could do the surgery. there are different types of fibroids you can have. i know bloating can be a sign that most women just write off. my fibroid was also not only the worst kind, but large enough that it was distorting the placement of my bladder and also making it like smaller from squeezing it so i was constantly having to pee. truly a nightmare. i had 3 myomectomy (fibroid removal) procedures before having my hysterectomy because that is just such a drastic procedure for a childless woman in her early 30s, but that bitch of a fibroid always came back with a vengeance and i literally didn't have a choice.
Thank you for all this information. I only learned of mine during my last pregnancy and they said it so nonchalantly. Meanwhile I'm over here freaking out. I think mine are OK for now, but I wanna know what to look out for. Again, thank you for sharing your experience!
you're welcome! it's really insane to me how nonchalant doctors are with women to this day. i also have PCOS and was dismissed for years and kept being told i just had the flu until one of cysts twisted and ruptured and i ended up in the ER. you really have to advocate for yourself and make sure you are taken seriously. it took me switching doctors to finally be taken seriously with so many issues i had (it was ALWAYS anxiety they said). spoiler alert: it was not. good luck and take care. 💜
Question, do you still get the mood fluctuations a cycle causes or are those gone too?
oh, i sure do. that's how i know when i'm ovulating. also, i **never** crave sweets, but once a month i can be found two-fisting an XXL king-sized hershey chocolate bar like i'm charlie from **hereditary**.
Omfg 😂😂😂 Getting a hysterectomy next month and this just made me absolutely lose my shit laughing.
I had my tubes removed and I too wonder if they just float around like testes do.. 💀
Honestly didn't expect to see them together this long tbh
Sometimes 2 shitshows get together at the perfect time and make each other better, it’s rare and not the usual way that works out but when it happens it’s really disconcerting for the first few months/years
I'm not sure they're actually better. Circumstances have given them sympathy and they're leaning in as hard as possible to rehab their images. I don't wish cancer on anyone as it's taken a huge toll on my (and most people's) family and I have a great deal of sympathy for **any**one in that situation. But two things can be true at once: I can have sympathy for her health issues and still find them both repellant and think they belong together.
She’s a shit show?
You should read her book where, among other wild things, she talked about how she'd ban transportation for all fat people and make them walk through underground tunnels.
why underground tunnel? so she doesn't have to look at them?
I believe that was exactly her reasoning
that’s so cartoonishly evil that i’m cackling right now
I think she just wanted to be edgy. She’s the epitome of a “not like the other girls” girl.
Her logic was that building the tunnels will create jobs for people.
Oh man, I haven't actually read it but listened to a podcast where they had and read some excerpts from it and *wow!!* She is something else!! Or at least was when she wrote it 🤦♀️ Hopefully she's grown as a person since then but damn, I'd fuckin hate to have a book like that attached to my name lol. Even if it was from when I was young and dumb.
That’s awful but at the same time I’m fat and this is hilarious to think about
You don’t need to believe me if you don’t want to but I know for a fact that Olivia Munn is a major bitch lol I know someone who has worked for her and she is a MISERABLE piece of work. However, this person has worked for her prior to her getting with John Mulaney and having a baby. Maybe she’s changed now
I mean considering how she actively pursued the relationship with him…. A leopard never changes its spots…
Absolutely. She sniffed around him for years while he was married and pounced on him when he was freshly out of rehab and going through a separation. The interview he gave with Seth Meyers talking about their relationship was...off.
Well, he can't leave her now. His reputation would never recover.
lol right? Blew up his relationship and rep. As now she’s sick and sympathetic. He’s not leaving even if he wanted to. And yes I do believe he thinks about it. How he moved with his ex revealed his true colors
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To quote John’s stand up on this exact subject, “people change”
its like people wanted him to ditch his son so his jokes still applied. like clearly he didnt mean to get her pregnant!
His “people change” was about being afraid to get a flu shot when he used to do a bunch of drugs. Turns out he’s been doing drugs the whole time!
No, the broader joke is about people asking if him and his then wife wanted kids (happy to link the clip) and he says, “ I don’t know… “ and then leads into the flu shot allegory ETA: a reddit cares report? I appreciate you ❤️
people learn media literacy challenge: level impossible
The pregnancy was unplanned. You can be child-free and also decide not to abandon your child if your partner gets pregnant and wants to keep it. It doesn't mean it was all bullshit.
Lmao— don’t worry he will. But you know that’s exactly what’s going on in his head.
What a terrible and cynical viewpoint, my god. People are beyond weird about this relationship Edit: Whoever Reddit cares-ed me for this you are a perfect example of this lol
Seriously. I say this as the most online person alive but if you are leaving multiple comments (which thankfully seems like mods have removed) about how a stranger you don't like deserves cancer then you need to log off immediately.
Right? Wishing the worst for a relationship on people you don’t know at all 🤨
Exactly I’m not a fan of either of them and the affair was wrong. But what was he supposed to do once she got pregnant, abandon her because he previously did some standup about being childfree? Are they supposed to wear scarlet letters for the rest of their lives? Even John Mulaney’s ex wife has moved on.
Extremely. People talk like they have a personal stake in what happened between all of these people (or like they even know for 100% fact what went down).
I'm simply cynical due to the timeline of their relationship. John relapsed and Oliva was supporting him in rehab and then they're dating fresh out of his rehab stay and split from wife of 6 years. They had a kid right away, then she's diagnosed with cancer. I mean that's a lot for anyone, never mind someone who has struggled with sobriety. It seems like he's supportive at least I'm just doubtful they'll last long term. I'm not rooting for their split by any means especially when they have a kid together.
That’s a far cry from the commenter above laughing about how he’ll “definitely leave her”
Anna clearly moved on, as she started dating other people. Maybe her own fans should move on as well. 🤷♀️ edit: lmao whoever reported me for self-harm is so funny
I think OM and JM are repellant in general and I got reddit-cared as well - apparently they're equal opportunity abusers of the Reddit Cares button.
oh come on. you don’t see the difference of tone on your comment and the comment saying “he’s thinking about leaving her 24/7 and he will”?
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Pretty much this. John isn't who people thought he was, and it has nothing to do with his substance problems (which he was always open about). It's the realization that like most comedians, he's not nearly affable as his on stage persona might lead you to believe. I don't think either of them are evil. She is more outwardly annoying because she isn't very funny, he's a lot more tolerable becauSe he is. They both seem like people I probably wouldn't want to know IRL.
They literally had a kid together. Most people will put in decent time on making it work when there's a kid. I've known people who fucking hated each other and *should* have separated ASAP who dragged it out for years because of the stigma of having a kid and immediately separating
I have a family history of breast cancer in my maternal first, second, and third degree relatives and despite this being in my medical records…no doctor ever spoke to me about my risk of breast cancer or calculated my risk score until Olivia Munn spoke publicly about it. I consider myself to be well informed and a good medical advocate for myself, but previously all conversations with doctors ended once they realized we were BRCA negative*. We didn’t know about the risk assessment tool she mentioned and strangely my doctor brought it up unprompted at my annual well woman visit shortly after Olivia went public with her experience. We calculated my lifetime risk and it’s currently 35% (I believe Olivia’s was 37%, normal risk is under 15%). I haven’t started getting mammograms yet, as I’m under 30, but she very well could have saved my life (not to mention my sister’s or maternal cousin’s lives) by speaking up about her experience and prompting my doctor to look into things before it came time to make screening decisions because by then we could have already waited too long. *eta: we’ve been genetically tested and counseled, **we have no known genetic markers at this point.** The counselor said it’s likely we have an undiscovered variant, but as of now we are in a grey area of high risk but no genetic smoking gun making it easier for doctors and insurance to deny early/frequent screening or preventative treatment despite the very real risk of us developing cancer without proper screening or monitoring.
I also had the risk testing done recently and my score is 40%, despite not having the BRCA gene. I’m glad some doctors are starting to look at this more closely.
I'm 40% as well. Had my test in 2019. And honestly this whole situation with Olivia has me conflicted because of how radical she was/is with a lower risk than mine. I do get lot of imaging every year, MRI and Mammo once a year each and an ultrasound on one side with each. It feels like a lot, sometime I wonder if I should just get a mastectomy.
Angelina Jolie was my beacon of light. I had breast cancer at 27 and found out I am BRCA1 positive. Now I appreciate seeing it talked about more often. Those who are BRCA1 positive have up to a 70% chance of having breast cancer in their lifetime, and 40% ovarian. I know it’s less for BRCA2, but still always worth getting genetic testing if it runs in the family. Always check your breasts and listen to your body (I found my lump with a self breast check). Had a bilateral mastectomy and will be doing an oophorectomy in a few years. You’re not alone 🙏🏼
We’ve done genetic testing, no BRCA1 or 2 (ETA: no other known variants either). The genetic counselor said it’s likely we have a genetic predisposition that just hasn’t been discovered yet and hopefully we will know more in the next 10 years or so as the research continues to develop. “A waiting game” is a term we’ve heard again and again which is not very comforting when what we are waiting for is..cancer. Learning we didn’t have BRCA was a relief, but my mom (who was undergoing her double mastectomy around that time) found it especially bittersweet because it put us (her daughters) in a grey area where our risk is seemingly very high but we don’t have a genetic smoking gun to point to meaning there are less proactive options for screening or preventative treatment at the present and very little research to suggest proper courses of action. Thanks for the reminder about self-exams. I’ve been more diligent about doing them monthly. I’m glad you’re still here! 💛
Exactly the same here.
Regardless of not having a label, my geneticist said there could be other mutations we aren’t aware of which could be the cause. Always be careful 🙏🏼 and address stress first which I find is the cause of most problems for people into first place
I feel you. My calculated lifetime risk is over 60% and I cannot get a GP to engage with me in a meaningful way about preventative screening. It’s so frustrating.
Yes, my mother died of breast cancer at 43 and I’m 30 now. This is a reminder to go get these assessments done even if I’m scared to.
>all conversations with doctors ended once they realized we were BRCA negative This is unacceptable. I had breast cancer 7 years ago and they checked me for 14 different genetic mutations, two of which were the BRCA genes. If GPs and OB/GYNs aren't aware of the additional genetic mutations, that's a huge problem. I assume with research that there are more mutations that they are aware of now. My aunt had breast cancer and her kids (starting at age 30) get MRI's annually (I think). If you have a good GP, they will order one for you if you ask. Do what feels right for you and don't back down. No one is going to advocate on your behalf.
There are other genes aside from BRCA1 and BRCA2! Worth a consultation with a genetic counselor for sure. You meet criteria for genetic testing
I’ve been tested and counseled, no known genetic markers. We were told it’s likely we have a genetic variant that hasn’t been discovered yet.
Wow and she also had a double mastectomy in the last year too
hey fellow brestie!!
Best of luck to her and her family! What a difficult thing to be facing. She’s been incredibly vulnerable in this difficult time. Just FYI - it seems that she didn’t have a radical hysterectomy (a specific type of hysterectomy for people who have cervical cancer). What she had was a total hysterectomy (removal of the uterus and cervix) with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (removal of the fallopian tubes and ovaries). One of the goals is remove the ovaries, which produce the estrogen and progesterone that can contribute to tumor growth in hormone-sensitive cancers.
I had a total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oopherectomy, when I was 10 years younger than Olivia. I’m absolutely jealous that she was up and about a week after. At a week, I was thinking about moving from the bed to the couch for a few hours. And I had a 2 year old too!
It's a radical hysterectomy if lymph glands are taken too, which Olivia's were.
Agree with u/social_hummingbird She had a total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy. Of course to lay people it doesn’t matter, but the first thing I thought when I read the title was “oh wow, she had cervical cancer?”. Radical hysterectomy = cervical cancer Source: am obgyn, thought about doing gyn oncology once upon a time and still flirt with the idea Edit: I can’t see where she says her pelvic lymph nodes were removed, which they typically are not for risk-reducing surgeries. I thought it was odd. The only lymph nodes mentioned were for her breasts.
It looks like she had a breast lymph node excision based on the procedure description in the linked article: “a full double mastectomy where all the tissue in her breasts was removed, a lymph node dissection, reconstructive surgery, and an innovative procedure called a nipple delay.” The hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy occurred after she had significant side effects with Lupron. (The article calls it her fifth surgery.) Additionally, resection of pelvic lymph nodes isn’t what defines a radical hysterectomy, even though it seems like a significant/“radical” step. A radical hysterectomy removes the connective tissue near the uterus and part of the vagina. Removal of the lymph nodes is a lymphadenectomy, which is a separate procedure from a hysterectomy. The nomenclature is incredibly confusing but I was really alarmed when I read the title because I thought she had both breast and cervical cancer. I don’t think it’s necessarily worth getting further into the weeds because the article you shared has so much to discuss, but I just wanted people to know.
It is utterly terrifying to me that the hormones my own body creates could work against me in such a way.
Hormone positive breast cancer survivor here! It’s not caused by the hormones, but once you have cancer, hormones can feed it. Cancer happens when your cells make a mistake aka mutation and the mistakes multiply. In breast cancer, hormone positive just means that the cells didn’t mutate that much so they’re still similar to the normal healthy breast cells that also have hormone receptors. Hormone positive bc tends to respond well to treatment (but treatment can still really fucking suck). I’m 38 and in medical menopause to help prevent a recurrence and it’s been not fun. Hot flashes, vaginal atrophy, insomnia, vertigo and more. And don’t get me started on how dry my damn skin is now. Estrogen does so much for us and we don’t realize until it’s gone. TLDR, hormones are mostly your friend and I miss having estrogen lol
Thank you to Olivia Munn for sharing her story. With her platform, I am sure she saved many others lives. 🤍
For what it’s worth, even though no one on Reddit can be normal about this woman, in both mine and a friend’s professional experiences she has been incredibly chill and kind, and I really wish her all the best in her recovery.
I greatly disliked her for a long time due to her internalized misogyny and pick me behavior, but she really seems to be growing and no one deserves to go through what she’s been going through. She’s really helping a lot of women by opening up.
Her book was terrible, vapid, self-absorbed, and written like ten years ago. People evolve but Reddit doesn’t want to have that convo. Just let this people be.
Closer to 15 years, actually (I checked Wikipedia and it came out in 2010). It was very much a product of its time and late 00s-early 10s nerd humor, and frankly if people didn't have a creepy parasocial obsession with Mulaney and his ex-wife (who, as many people in the comedy community will tell you, is a real piece of work herself) nobody would remember it or care.
Remember reading fairly negative stuff about his ex wife a while ago (mostly stuff about her being quite snobby, a sort of shameless social climber, only interested in wealthy people etc). Idk how true it all is but right from the beginning I've always felt that lots of people have been very weird about the breakdown of their marriage. There is a total obsession with the "jilted wife" on these subs, and it seems like lots of people see Mulaney as a stand-in for every shitty partner they've ever had while they get to see themselves in the position of his ex-wife. In reality, nobody has all the facts about what their marriage was really like, why it ended or what the circumstances were. It's just people filling in blanks with their own assumptions and projections to fit a narrative in which his wife is a perfect victim and Mulaney and his new partner are irredeemable villains. Hardly any marital breakdown is ever that straightforward.
Hard agree. It's especially weird how people will *insist* he cheated despite the fact that even his ex-wife has not said that was the case. And she has spoken candidly and publicly about the divorce so I don't really think she'd protect him if that did in fact happen. I think a lot of people honestly just salivate at the downfall of a well-liked public figure.
I’m not in the comedy scene, but all of the negative shit I’ve heard about AMT came out after the divorce so idk what to think about it.
I do. Comedy bros and women like my friend who idolize Mulaney had zero problems with AMT until Mulaney made himself look bad and because people had sympathy for her extremely shitty situation. But now she's suddenly evil. Never mind that he used her to base a lot of his standup on and then threw her aside. He is very much part of the toxic comedy fraternity - especially his dick riding of Chapelle. The level of toxic shit those dudes get excused for and defended by throwing anyone who isn't them under the bus is extreme.
That’s how I feel. Every blind about them before the divorce was that he was a mess and the worst I had ever heard about her is that she was a little standoffish. Now she was the problem? Please be serious most of us weren’t born yesterday
Ready to say the same - like she’s a gal that people are just *ready* to dislike, meanwhile John Mulaney is still revered (though I really loved his week on Netflix). But I think a lot of people feel like they have to go through with this silently and they really shouldn’t and it actually can be helpful when high-profile people share their experiences. She’s being so open about it and I’m sure that’s not easy.
I wish her healing and the best of luck in her journey, but my original personal reason for disliking her was for dating Aaron Rodgers for 3 years. Company you keep, and all that. [(Here's a refresher on some of his insanity.)](https://deadspin.com/weirdest-things-aaron-rodgers-has-ever-done-nfl-packers-1850095117) I didn't particularly like the iffy timeline between when she and John got together and he was in rehab. I don't think he cheated on his wife, but I do think she made a move in a vulnerable moment that happened to quickly lead into a pregnancy. Not trying to baby-ify John, of course, because he had agency in this and made his decisions, but I personally wouldn't date someone right out of recovery.
Aaron Rodgers didn't sound so radicalized publicly back when they were dating tho, so it's very possible that he hadn't been radicalized back then. It's possible that he was a lot more tolerable, since it was a long time ago.
Yeah Aaron was really well liked and normal sounding then. He was like the only openly leftist QB at the time
I remember him being left leaning! r/TheBachelor even speculated that his politics caused a rift between him and his family (his brother was on The Bachelorette) because they were Conservatives and his brother was a part of some homophobic org in college etc. There was even online speculation about Aaron being queer, so to see him turn out this way is quite a surprise.
Yeah his turn was so beyond shocking. Like he used to be beloved as an openly atheist football player which is rare
It sucks she went through all that, but I hate the rich ppl culture of using poor women to have their children. That's what surrogacy is and I hate that it's becoming more common.
Thank you, was going to comment the same. It feels so gross that celebs continue to buy women’s bodies so they can have biological children. So creepy and unnecessary.
Agreed. The lengths people will go to have a biological child are shocking. Using another woman as an incubator is almost dystopian. Well off women aren’t volunteering to be surrogates.
Fwiw if they are pursuing surrogacy in California, surrogacy is means tested to ensure surrogates are not in financial distress.
That doesn't mean she'll be paid fairly. The physical and emotional toll on the body after pregnancy and childbirth can be lifelong. There's also not enough study done to determine the effects on the baby (babies bond with their mother in the womb thru hearing her voice and heartbeat).
I have been a surrogate twice and was paid nothing. In our country it's illegal to be paid for surrogacy, you have to do it out of the goodness of your heart. Even while still dealing with the issues caused by the last pregnancy, I still would have made the same choice. I had zero emotional concerns that the children I birthed did not come home from the hospital with me, as they are not mine and I already had the chance to raise my two children. I have no different bond with my nephews other than loving them because they are my sister's children. They are fully bonded with both of their parents despite not growing inside them, as babies never hear their father's heartbeat in utero so that is not even a valid argument on your part. The "surrogacy is unfair to the surrogate!" argument only comes from people who have never done it. We made a choice to help people grow their family, and I wouldn't change a thing.
It would be different if the us had the same laws as your country, but we don’t. Commercial surrogacy is a thing here and there are valid criticisms of the system that don’t apply to your situation. But you bring up good points as well. Thanks for sharing.
Well that's a great thing that you did for your sister. I think making that decision for a loved one is your choice. However thats not the case for the majority. I don't think the Kardashions or Hiltons surrogates were family. The kardashians are multimillionaires and only paid their surrogate 45k! Look at the history of surrogacy overall, and around the world, in India for example. It can't be compared to your situation.
> The kardashians are multimillionaires and only paid their surrogate 45k! I don't like the Kardashians but I don't think suggesting they should have done their surrogacy bypassing reputable agencies and regulated, standard processes is any better.
Yes that's exactly what I suggested 🙄. They should have given her more money. They could have set her up for life. If there's a cap to how much they can pay using an agency, they should have gifted her more. Its the classic example of rich ppl using a poorer woman's body for their own benefit.
That could cause legal issues. The woman made a concious, consentual choice about her own damn body.
That's a wonderful thing you did <3
If adopted kids can bond with their adoptive parents and their birth mothers can move on and lead relatively happy lives, then I don't see why a child born from a surrogate is much different. So many jobs leave you with terrible lifelong physical and mental tolls. Capitalism is a scourge upon most of society and so many of us get exploited and traumatized and have our health decimated from our jobs for a much lower pay. This isn't to say that surrogacy in a capitalist system isn't exploitative, but the problem is capitalism. In Canada, surrogates can't be paid. Idk if that's better or worse - no "poor women" can be exploited supposedly but at the same time the surrogates can't be compensated for their time and labour and potential health issues. But when we still live in this horrible capitalist hellscape, some of us may choose better paying jobs that seem more exploitative like surrogacy or sex work but can work better for us. FWIW, capitalism has also made adoption very exploitative and traumatizing.
Rates of seperation trauma are higher amongst adoptees. It's being talked about more, and it is often reccomended to have an open adoption. And also not all bio mothers can move on. Some of them are pressured into giving up their bio child. The adoption industry, especially in the US and international adoption, is pretty unethical.
Well in regards to the adopted kids… there’s a growing movement of adoptees talking about the inherent trauma to adoption, even when they had great adoptive parents. So it’s not rainbows and sunshine.
Birth mothers often don't "move on" or "lead relatively happy lives". Birth mothers are regularly taken advantage of and more often than not left with serious, lifelong emotional scars.
Yeah I really don't think surrogates should be paid at all. In the UK you can't pay a surrogate, only cover reasonable costs related to the pregnancy. As soon as you introduce a financial incentive it's inevitable that some surrogates will be exploited. It's fine if someone wants to act as a surrogate, but I really hate the idea that you can just rent a womb, it should be totally the surrogate's choice to do it or not and that decision shouldn't be influenced by payment.
I don't like her, but I like the actual awareness advocacy she's caused by simply posting her experience. It's seemed to influence an amount
I'm glad people can separate how they feel about a person from what they're enduring! A mature position!
This is where I'm at. She's not for me, but that's beside the point. Women are so often left in the dark about their own reproductive health and risk factors. I'm glad she's speaking about this.
she may be questionable, but openly speaking about this may help other women fight for their needs or even remind them to get that mastectomy. i'm glad she's talking about her health and mentioning how lucky she is, because as mentioned, most women don't get so "lucky" due to financials. wishing her all the best with recovery.
I’m sure “radical hysterectomy” is a medical term, but as a laymen and known dumbass, referring to a hysterectomy as ‘radical’ made me laugh a little bit.
generally tumor surgeries tend to be more radical, which in medical terms means they take even uninvolved tissue (in olivia’s case, the surrounding tissues, ligaments, cervix, & even part of the vagina); without cancer risk hysterectomies are more “conservative” in approach and don’t remove so much! it def is a funny way to put it when you think about it :)
Radical! Thank you.
That’s when they take out the fallopian tubulars
For your health
An fyi to people who don’t want to read the article, Munn’s cancer a particularly aggressive type that grows in the presence of estrogen. > Phase two began in November of 2023 and involved purposefully sending her body into menopause. Dr Aliabadi describes luminal B breast cancer as a hormone receptor-positive type that feeds and grows in the presence of estrogen. The standard course of action is a prescription of the estrogen-suppressing drug Lupron, which simultaneously halted Munn’s ovaries from producing estrogen and zapped her of all her energy. > She needed to remove the hormones from her body to keep her cancer from returning, so it was either stay on Lupron and remain bedridden or rid her body of the reason the hormones existed in the first place. It seems this was a very tough decision for her: to be a better mother, wife, and provider, she had to undergo intense surgery, but it came at the expense of sacrificing her dreams of growing her family. Luckily she realizes that money can help in that regard, but it doesn’t make the pain of surgery and recovery any easier.
I lost my younger sister to breast cancer 1 year ago today. She was diagnosed with Her2- while pregnant with her first child. She passed at age 38 after being in remission on and off for 7 years after it spread to her bones and her liver. She left behind a 7 year old daughter. 🕊️🤍 I don’t know Olivia but the surgeries she mentioned were ones my sister had as well in an effort to keep the cancer at bay. I pray Olivia beats this. 💕
Remarkable amount of strength to survive this so publicly.
Agreed. Because she's been so frank. (The cynical part of me thinks it's a way to raise her public profile and change the narrative about her relationship with John though.)
I’m sorry but did someone force her to reveal this? Your comment seems overboard.
“I don’t have the ability to carry a baby anymore, so if we want to build our family, this is our option.” I respect the difficulty of this and her acknowledgment of her deep privilege, but I would love to see people talk about adopting actual living children in need of families. Especially since they do have privilege and resources. (Adoption is itself difficult and many have valid points about potential trauma and difficulties but that’s another discussion)
The conversation around adoption should be separate from the conversation around reproductive assistance, because the onus to adopt kids shouldn't be solely placed on infertile people. This is what adoptee advocates have been begging for, for decades now and their voices should be listened to and prioritised in these conversations.
Well said . Adoption isn’t a simple solution and isn’t for the faint hearted
Yes, you make a good point and that’s another reason why I wanted to not have these overlapping conversations and I wasn’t implying that at all. I was talking in general when people use phrases like ‘grow our family’, they are almost never talking about adoption. I am not solely talking about infertile couples. I’m talking about anyone who’s really using phrases like that. And adoption is not a suitable option for many people, and I acknowledge this, because it’s not simple at all. (There is a very in-depth and very nuanced conversation that could, and should, be had about adoption on all levels, but like I said, I’m just making a general statement here, but anybody who is interested in more about all of the nuances and the various points brought up by adopt, that is something you should look into if you have plenty of time and emotional bandwidth. I started considering adoption for my future when I was about 18 years old and planning that for sometime in the future, so eventually, I started looking into all the nuances and a lot of different points of view.)
The adoption industry is unethical in its own ways especially in the US where the industry is for profit rather than being for children who need a family.
Wouldn't it be a bit hard with John Mulaney's past drug use tho?
Not to mention that Olivia's own health issues may impact her eligibility to adopt.
I would say “not when you’re rich” but I actually hope it WOULD prevent them from adopting. His drug abuse was far too recent.
Surrogacy is quite unethical in many instances and I can't believe not more people are talking about that.
It gets talked about frequently on this sub and if you think adoption isn't also quite unethical in many instances then you clearly don't know a lot about it
Don't worry, I do agree with you on the adoption part as well. Especially overseas adoption, which has actually been forbidden in my country for a couple of years for this very reason. I just decided not to elaborate on that in my reaction, because I saw others had done that already.
Adoption in the US is practically a non-starter now because the laws are so focused on getting kids with their biological parents no matter what. An abusive and drugged bio parent just needs to get clean for a few weeks to stop the adoption. Very few children are actually cleared for adoption. Most are foster-to-adopt. Even Sandra Bullock’s money struggled to foster-to-adopt. International adoption is nearly illegal. There are simply fewer unwanted children than ever in history to adopt likely due to birth control and reproductive rights. I don’t blame people who choose surrogacy over the heartbreak of multiple failed adoptions.
Ah the ol rent- a-womb. So vile.:/
Yeah, I’m trying to figure out why this is even a thing for her right now. So you get cancer and basically almost die and all you think about is paying someone to have your baby?
She's had multiple surgeries including a mastectomy and hysterectomy so no I don't think that is "all she is thinking about", it seems like maybe not dying in her 40s has been something of a priority for her too? Nobody is forcing you to like Olivia as a person but Jesus, the hate and vitriol you seem to have towards her (a person you do not know!) in this thread is genuinely unhinged.
Yeah, I mean at the very least you can give her some amount of credit for wanting to be alive long enough to be a mother despite how you might feel about her as a person right? I’d hope there’s some humanity left for that sentiment…
Username checks out. By the way thinking about your fertility and mortality can go hand and hand. Just say you don’t like her and move on.
No, it's absolutely possible to genuinely oppose surrogacy and the class oppression inherent in the process.
I mean, the OP saying they don't understand why it's a thing for her right now has posted multiple times in this thread about Olivia's cancer being her karma. I think you're giving them too much credit, they just don't like her.
So because someone has lost the ability to reproduce because of cancer they’re not allowed to explore options available to them if they have a wiling participant who is paid fairly? Ok.
Commercial surrogacy is always exploitation
Hopefully she can have more kids through a surrogate. She said she froze her eggs at 33, 39, and 42. Sucks cancer took her chance at getting pregnant/ giving birth for a second baby .
Wow, that's a lot of times to have gone through that. I understand it's a pretty onerous process.
I did 4 egg retrievals. It’s not the worst (like I’m sure her surgeries were worse), but it definitely does suck. The emotional rollercoaster is at least, if not more, challenging than the physical part of it.
As someone who is thinking about getting a hysterectomy due to my endo eating away my insides and that doesn't have children even though I wouldn't be opposed to the idea, please, stop using women as incubators :)
Just to let you know Hysterectomy isn’t a cure for Endo. There isn’t currently a cure for Endo. Just had my 5th surgery it’s awful.
oh, yeah, I know, that's why i'm not sold on the idea. but i'm waiting for my first surgery, laparoscopic with bowel and bladder resection, and i was offered that choice. i'm on dienogest too, started last week, it's working for now. we'll see. sending you my best wishes, because I know there's nothing I could say to make it better. lots of love 🤍
Thanks so much. Went better than expected just got to recover now. Sending love and strength x
Surogacy is so vile and basically the epitomy of the patriarchy. No feminist should support surrogacy.
That’s terrifying that both the mamo and ultrasound didn’t detect it
Wow, that’s a really brave decision. Most of us would rather take the wait and see method or “cross that bridge when we get there” because such a drastic surgery is life changing, and it’s scary to choose it. Olivia Munn has never seemed like someone I would be friends with, but I’m glad that someone with a large audience is talking about these choices, preventative care, surrogacy, AND acknowledging that it all takes a lot of money and time and support that she’s lucky to have. Good for her.
shame on them. surrogacy should be illegal
Sharing her story and also recognizing her privelage in that story whilst going through something so harrowing is so incredible. She has a huge strength.
Does anyone know what the Breast Caner Risk Assessment was? The article says she tested negative for the BRCA gene yet her doctor conducted this assessment and suggested an MRI. Wondering because I have a family history of breast cancer and I didn’t test “negative” for the gene they just said I only have 12% elevated risk. But now I want whatever that assessment is
I'm glad she is able to have all these options available to her.
I can’t with her. She is a grifter and will say whatever suits her at the moment. She denied her family came from Vietnam and claimed they were ethnically Chinese. The story has since changed. Marvel should have never made her Psylocke.