Breakout Commercial Actress Nicci Carr Fighting Cancer
- Actress Nicci Carr from the 2021 GEICO commercial Swoop There it Is is fighting an aggressive form of breast cancer, triple-negative breast cancer (also called “TNBC”).
- Last year she discovered a lump in her breast in July, and by September, she’d been diagnosed with the disease. TNBC is typically treated with chemotherapy and other treatments; Carr is getting weekly chemotherapy and will have surgery later this year.
- Carr says she experienced a deep depression after her diagnosis; it’s important to care for your mental health, along with your physical health, through cancer.
Carr went public with her battle in late November on Facebook after she had a clump of hair fall out during a Zoom call. Hair loss is a common side effect of chemotherapy.
Carr’s Triple-Negative Breast Cancer & Treatment
In July 2021, Carr felt a lump in her breast. She’d previously had benign cysts, but Carr says the lump she discovered felt “different” this time. By September, she’d been officially diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, which is an aggressive form of breast cancer.
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Carr says she was in shock. "I was like, for real, God? This is how it's going to go down?" she remembered. “It felt so overwhelming and so unfair and, well, like a ‘death sentence,'” said Carr. The actress says she felt hopeless and even considered not going through treatment.
“For someone who is newly diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, most of the time they will need chemotherapy.”
In an earlier interview, Dr. Julie Nangia, a medical oncologist at Baylor College of Medicine, outlines what differentiates triple-negative breast cancer from other cancers. “There are different types of breast cancer,” she says. “And these are defined by biomarkers. So the three biomarkers are ER, which is the estrogen receptor, PR, progesterone receptor, and HER2, which is a protein.”
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“Some of these tumors don’t have any of the three receptors and we refer to those tumors as triple-negative breast cancers,” she explains. “Today we classify triple-negative breast cancers as one of the most aggressive types of breast cancers.”
The doctor explains that chemotherapy is typically needed for this cancer. “For someone who is newly diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, most of the time they will need chemotherapy,” she says.
Carr is currently getting weekly chemotherapy treatments and will later have surgery, most likely in spring 2022, in order to remove the remainder of her tumor.
What is Triple Negative Breast Cancer?
Coping with Anxiety & Depression After a Diagnosis
Carr says that after her diagnosis she was in a "dark and scary place." This is a common experience for people diagnosed with cancer. The GEICO actress says she was “deeply depressed.” Feelings like anxiety, overwhelm, depression, and sadness, are all typical emotional responses to a cancer diagnosis.
Related: Dealing With Grief After a Cancer Diagnosis
If you’re experiencing depression and anxiety after you’re diagnosed with cancer, it’s important to face these mental health challenges head-on, as mental health issues like a depressive episode can negatively impact your cancer treatment. Caring for your mental health is as critical as caring for your physical health, particularly during a battle like cancer.
If you’re having trouble seek help. Speak with a therapist, psychologist, or social worker to help you gain more tools to care for your mental health.
Treating Depression After a Cancer Diagnosis
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