Nicole Eggert has breast cancer.
The “Baywatch” alum, 51, revealed Monday that she was diagnosed with stage 2 cribriform carcinoma in December 2023.
She told People she thought her symptoms were signs of menopause, as she recalled gaining 25 pounds in three months and experiencing “terrible pain” in her left breast in October.
After discovering a lump during a self-exam, she called her doctor.
“It really was throbbing and hurting,” the actress explained. “I immediately went to my general practitioner, and she told me I had to immediately go get it looked at.”
Eggert had difficulty obtaining an appointment with a specialist because “everything was booked up,” so she “had to wait until the end of November to get it done.”
While a discovery mammogram and three biopsies determined that she was positive for cancer, she doesn’t yet know whether the disease has spread to other parts of her body.
The mother of two will need surgery and is currently waiting for her oncologist to determine when she will begin chemotherapy and radiation.
“I can definitely feel it,” she told People of the lump in her breast. “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?”
The “Charles in Charge” star — whose father battled skin cancer and mother battled colon cancer — admitted she has “panics” and is desperate to “get this out” of her, knowing that “it’s growing” with “every second that passes.”
Although the journey so far has been a “rough” one, she’s been trying to stay positive.
“I always read inspirational quotes and corny stuff,” she shared, noting that it “gets [her] through.”
Still, her “biggest fear” as a single mother is not being there for her daughters: Keegan, 12, and Dilyn, 25.
“[Dilyn’s] an adult, but I have a 12-year-old at home where I’m the only caregiver. I have no family. I have nothing,” she lamented.
Eggert recalled “the horror” on Keegan’s face when she told her about her diagnosis.
“It immediately made me realize, ‘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 said.
“My fear is that my everyday hustle, everything that I do to keep everything going, is going to come to a screeching halt when I’m not feeling well or I’m sick or I’m in the hospital or whatever is going on,” she went on.
“It’s just so overwhelming, and I’m just doing everything I can not to spiral.”
Eggert also told her “Perfectly Twisted” podcast listeners that she gets her annual mammograms done every December “like clockwork.”
She added that she has “dreaded implants” and called them her “biggest regret in life.”
“Baywatch” producer Michael Berk has previously claimed that Eggert underwent a breast augmentation while filming the ’90s series in order to keep up with her well-endowed co-star Pamela Anderson.
One of Eggert’s friends, Mindy Molinary, has created a GoFundMe page to help the actress cope with her upcoming financial burdens.
“[Eggert] is tenacious and has always found a way to get by, but this is different,” Molinary explained. “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.”
Molinary continued, “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.”
