Nicole Eggert's Breast Cancer Battle
- “Baywatch” star Nicole Eggert, who has been battling stage 2 invasive cribriform carcinoma since her diagnosis in 2023, has shared a new photo of her skin imperfections on social media, prompting her to be praised as “gorgeous inside and out.”
- Eggert’s treatment journey included a bilateral mastectomy, reconstruction, chemotherapy, radiation, and taking cancer medications. More recently, she said more cancer was found in her body and she underwent a hysterectomy in March. A hysterectomy is a procedure that removes part or all of the uterus (or womb), often along with the cervix, according to the National Cancer Institute. Women who receive a diagnosis of uterine, ovarian, and cervical cancer may have their cancer treated with a hysterectomy.
- “Body image is both the mental picture that you have of your body and the way you feel about your body when you look in a mirror,” Dr. Marianna Strongin, a New York-based licensed clinical psychologist, tells SurvivorNet. “As you allow yourself to spend more time looking at all of you, you will begin having a new relationship with your body.”
- A positive outlook on body image can be really helpful for people living with illnesses like cancer or struggles with mental health due to body image issues.
The “Baywatch” alum, whose treatment journey included a bilateral mastectomy, reconstruction, chemotherapy, radiation, and taking cancer medications, recently took to social media to confidently show off her body despite what she’s been through.
Read MoreFans and fellow celebs were quick to comment with kind words, with one writing, “Insanely beautiful and I love you” and another commenting, “I needed to hear this tonight. Thank you and God bless you always Nicole. I pray for you everyday.”View this post on Instagram
Another commented, “You are gorgeous inside and out,” while someone else wrote, “You look beautiful! I too grieve who I was before breast cancer. … But I do celebrate being alive and here for my beloved family and friends as they have been there for me! I send hugs and healing!”
Eggert, a single mom and breast cancer survivor, recently addressed how she’s coped with her body changes to SurvivorNet at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).
“Being on a ‘Bay Watch,’ you’re in your gaming suit. I was 19 years old, so that’s a very different, a lot of magazines will put a picture. You’re now in your fifties next to this picture of you in your bathing suit at 19, before my cancer diagnosis, that was always something that was kind of horrifying.
“Now I’m like, this body is so strong and so amazing. You can’t criticize it anymore in my act. So what if I don’t look the same? I’m here. I’m a mother to two daughters.”
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She continued, “The hardest part of my breast cancer journey has been having to tell my kids that I tested positive after my cancer journey. I just really want my girls to know that everything’s going to be okay, that the tides change.
“That’s one thing you can count on is change. And what’s bad now is going to be good later. And then you’re going to look back and go, why did I waste all that energy? Focusing on the negative when it’s going to change?”
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Eggert’s recent post showing her scars comes about a month after she shared another photo of her body on Instagram, revealing imperfections on her abdomen.
View this post on Instagram
She captioned the post, “We can give in to our fear and anxiety, or we can surrender to this great mystery with courage. What a journey
“Test results showed early signs of more cancer. I am grateful to my doctors for keeping such a close eye on me. Full Hysterectomy eliminates at least 7 different types of cancers.”
It’s hard not to respect Eggert’s ongoing strength and resilience during her cancer journey—especially the way she’s come to embrace her body with even greater positivity than before.
Referring to how her diagnosis arose when she was promoting a “Baywatch” documentary, she told us, “They were going to put a picture of me pitching the show and doing all of that next to the 19-year-old [photo of] Nicole. But now I was like, but I’m going through cancer. I’m fighting for my life, so come at me.”
She continued, “Suddenly this thing of looks was so irrelevant in my life and I was just appreciating my body for waking up and fighting and being there for me. And I was like, I can’t believe I was so mean to you [herself] all these years.
“Picking it apart and saying, this should be better, that should be higher, that should be lower. Just all the things. And at this point, I was so proud of myself and the self that is not my mind. It was my body just showing up and I was promoting the show that was all about the things I was missing. And I don’t know, suddenly … this pressure came off of me.”
She further emphasized her sense of empowerment, adding, “This fearlessness just came over me where I was like, this is who I am.
“This is who I look like, this is what I’m going through. Take it or leave it.”
View this post on Instagram
Eggert’s Ongoing Breast Cancer Treatment
When Eggert bravely went public with her diagnosis in 2023, she revealed she had stage 2 cribriform carcinoma breast cancer. Early-stage breast cancer refers to cancer that is typically smaller in size and confined to the breast and surrounding tissue.
Her journey began after discovering a lump in her breast while performing a self-exam—a crucial tool for early detection of abnormalities.
Self-breast exams involve checking for swelling, changes in shape, or nipple irregularities, as well as signs of redness, rashes, or discharge. If any concerns arise, it’s essential to contact a doctor. However, these exams should always be done alongside regular mammograms for comprehensive screening.
Initially, Eggert dismissed her symptoms—terrible pain and rapid weight gain—as signs of menopause. But after discovering the lump, she underwent a mammogram and multiple biopsies, confirming her cancer diagnosis.
“I can definitely feel it. It’s there. It needs to be taken out,” Eggert told People Magazine in an earlier interview. “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?”
While her treatment included a mastectomy (the removal of the entire breast during surgery), followed by a second mastectomy of the other breast and reconstruction, she also received radiation and chemotherapy. She’s still undergoing treatment with hopes of reaching remission.
In March 2026 she underwent a hysterectomy, a procedure that removes part or all of the uterus (or womb), often along with the cervix, according to the National Cancer Institute. Women who receive a diagnosis of uterine, ovarian, and cervical cancer may have their cancer treated with a hysterectomy.
Women may need a hysterectomy for a variety of reasons, and she and her doctor carefully review. Some examples may include endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, endometriosis, chronic pelvic pain or vaginal bleeding, and uterine fibroids.
Eggert had the surgery after more cancer was discovered in her body. She didn’t specify exactly what signs were identified, but she did include the hashtag “uterine cancer” in a recent social media post.
The National Cancer Institute explains that there are different types of hysterectomy procedures.
- Total hysterectomy: Removal of the uterus and cervix, but the ovaries and fallopian tubes may also be removed.
- Supracervical hysterectomy: Removal of just the upper part of the uterus, but keeping the cervix. This may also be called a partial hysterectomy.
- Total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy: Removing the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes (salpingectomy), and ovaries (oophorectomy).
- Radical hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy: Removing the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes, ovaries, the upper portion of the vagina, and some surrounding tissue and lymph nodes. This hysterectomy is done when cancer is involved.
Eggert says she’s currently taking a few cancer medications as she continues to fight breast cancer, including Kisqali, Letrozole, and Zoladex.
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Ribociclib (Kisqali) belongs to a class of medications known as kinase inhibitors, which block the actions of kinases, a type of protein in cells that play a key role in growth, metabolism, and cell repair. Inhibiting the kinase in cancer cells slows down the cancer from growing and spreading.
Letrozole is an aromatase inhibitor that blocks the aromatase enzyme, thereby preventing estrogen production. This helps slow down the growth of tumor cells sensitive to estrogen.
Zoladex (generic name: goserelin) is a type of endocrine (hormone) therapy.
WATCH: How The Drug Kisqali and Endocrine Therapy Work For Hard-To-Treat Breast Cancers
Protecting Your Inner Beauty and Self-Esteem
Licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Marianna Strongin previously explained to SurvivorNet, “Cancer changes who you are both physically and emotionally.” Although Fonda hasn’t battled cancer, her weight-loss journey perfectly illustrates how our health choices can influence our self-esteem.
A study published in Frontiers in Psychology questioned how self-esteem should be considered in cancer patients. Researchers noted cancer patients’ framing of their diagnosis and how they cope with their diagnosis and subsequent treatment impacts their self-esteem throughout their cancer journeys.
“Adaptive adjustment strategies (positive reframing, use of emotional support, active coping, acceptance, and planning) in breast cancer patients were associated with high self-esteem. Social support also appears to be strongly related to self-esteem,” the study says.
Dr. Strongin suggests looking at the part or parts of your body impacted by the cancer or cancer treatment to help you cope with body changes. She recommends creating a regular practice of accepting your body image because it enables you to accept your cancer journey emotionally and physically.
“As you allow yourself to spend more time looking at all of you, you will begin having a new relationship with your body. It may not happen immediately, but you can start honoring and thanking your new body with time.
“Just because the treatment is behind you, the emotional recovery can take longer,” Dr. Strongin adds.
Strongin also encourages people that spending time in front of the mirror can help with body image.
Although “research has found that when looking in the mirror we are more likely to focus on the parts of our body we are dissatisfied with” which can cause “a negative self-view and lower self-esteem,” it’s important to look at the parts of your body that you love and the parts of your body that you don’t.
Eventually, Dr. Strongin says, doing so can help you create a more accepting relationship with yourself.
“Body image is both the mental picture that you have of your body and the way you feel about your body when you look in a mirror,” she said. “As you allow yourself to spend more time looking at all of you, you will begin having a new relationship with your body.”
If you find yourself wrestling with your emotions because of a diagnosis, remember you don’t have to go it alone. Your support group is filled with loved ones who are there to help you on your journey.
“The patient or person going through the stressful event should accept that emotions will be fluid. You may feel fine one day and then feel a massive stress wave the next. It’s also important for those you look to for support, whether that’s a therapist, friends, family, or both, to understand the fluidity of stress-related emotions,” psychiatrist Dr. Lori Plutchik says.
Coping With Body Image Through Health Changes
Appreciating your body and all that it has accomplished is a beautiful thing, but body positivity is easier said than done. And cancer survivors or women dealing with menopause may struggle more than others during or after their cancer journeys or body changes.
RELATED: Celebrity Stylist Ann Caruso on Beauty and Femininity After Cancer
Take Ann Caruso, for example. She had 12 surgeries to treat her breast cancer and told SurvivorNet about how all of the changes really impacted the way she saw her body.
“You’re not the same carefree person that you once were, and it was very hard for me to look at myself every day,” Caruso said. “It was like I was a totally different person and didn’t fit into any of my clothes for so long.”
But time is a powerful healer. Looking back on her breast cancer experience has helped her redefine femininity and body image.
“Femininity is a state of mind,” Caruso said. “And I think that’s something that we have to remind ourselves.”
Another breast cancer survivor, Jaclyn Kaczynski, had a similar experience after her diagnosis at 37.
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“My confidence was gone,” she told SurvivorNet. “My confidence was destroyed. I was always vain about my appearance and my weight, let alone losing a breast, or both.”
Some people find empowerment in going “flat” after losing their breasts to the disease, but Kaczynski found confidence in reconstruction. There’s no right or wrong answer for breast cancer survivors, but it’s important to consider all your options and go forward with whatever path is best for you.
“I just had my reconstructive surgery,” she said. “My favorite doctor was able to make it happen for me. It’s amazing how much more confidence I have within the past three weeks.”
When to Screen for Breast Cancer
The medical community has a broad consensus that women should have annual mammograms between the ages of 45 and 54. However, an independent panel of experts called the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is saying that women should now start getting mammograms every other year at the age of 40, suggesting that this lowered age for breast cancer screening could save 19% more lives.
The American Cancer Society recommends getting a mammogram every other year for women 55 and older. However, women in this age group who want added reassurance can still get annual mammograms.
Women with a strong family history of breast cancer, a genetic mutation known to increase the risk of breast cancer, such as a BRCA gene mutation, or a medical history, including chest radiation therapy before the age of 30, are considered at higher risk for breast cancer.
Experiencing menstruation at an early age (before 12) or having dense breasts can also put you into a high-risk category. If you are at a higher risk of developing breast cancer, you should begin screening earlier.
Regular Self-Exams Are Helpful In Between Mammograms
A self-breast exam is an easy way to monitor your breasts for abnormalities. It involves feeling the breast for swelling, bulging, or changes in the shape of the breast or nipple.
WATCH: Mammograms are still the best tool for detecting breast cancer.
Checking for signs of redness, rashes, or discharge is also part of this exam. If anything is found that is concerning, you should contact your doctor.
It’s important to note that self-exams should be done with regular mammograms.
WATCH: How to perform a self-exam.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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