Christina Applegate's Breast Cancer Battle
- Actress Christina Applegate, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease that impacts the central nervous system, in 2021, after going through a breast cancer battle in 2008, has had her beloved musician husband, Martyn LeNoble, as an incredibly support system throughout her health struggles.
- The “Married with Children” underwent a double mastectomy (removal of both breasts) in her fight against breast cancer, and although Applegate hasn’t discussed the specifics of her cancer treatment had affected her in private, it’s important to understand that many women experience sexual side effects both during and after treatment for various types of cancers, but most won’t address the topic with their doctors.
- Memorial Sloan Kettering clinical health psychologist and sexual health therapist Dr. Jeanne Carter previously explained to SurvivorNet that many women who experience sexual issues feel ashamed because they don’t understand how common these problems are.
- “Patients actually feel like it’s just them, that no one else is having these issues,” Dr. Carter said. “So, I think it’s important for healthcare providers to raise the topic so it can normalize their experience, as well as give them an avenue to get information and support.”
The 53-year-old actress, who welcomed her and LeNoble’s daughter Sadie Grace in 2011, just one year after being engaged, battled breast cancer in 2008 and then was diagnosed with MS, a disease which impacts the central nervous system, in August 2021.
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Applegate, who ultimately had both of her breasts removed [double mastectomy], in addition to her ovaries and fallopian tubes, told People in an earlier interview, that LeNoble, just one year into dating him, made her feel “beautiful” amid the bodily changes she experienced amid cancer.
She told the celebrity news outlet, “I’m very grateful to Martyn for coming along at a time that he did because he’s been my rock through all of this.
“He gave me something to really want to live for and something to smile about.”
In 2009, Applegate also told People, “He’s been a friend for about 13 years … Our relationship gets stronger and stronger. I’m really lucky.”
Fast-forward to 2022, an emotional LeNoble was reportedly seen alongside Applegate at the Hollywood Walk of Fame when the actress famously received her own star.
The ceremony was the first time Applegate was seen after gaining 40lbs due to limited mobility. It also followed her telling The New York Times, “This is the first time anyone’s going to see me the way I am. I put on 40 pounds. I can’t walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that.”
Days prior to the ceremony, Applegate opened up on how multiple sclerosis (MS) has changed her life and admitted to prioritizing her time differently as she struggles with MS.
“It’s about finding what I’m capable of doing. I’m so new in this right now. It takes time to kind of figure out this disease, and figure out what’s bringing on symptoms,” Applegate, who had also recently showed off her new walking sticks, told Variety.
Christina Applegate thanks her family as she receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. https://t.co/YpWGxW0eDu pic.twitter.com/Os3rCKEPW0
— Variety (@Variety) November 14, 2022
Christina Applegate’s Breast Cancer Journey
Christina Applegate is currently battling MS, a chronic disease of the central nervous system she was diagnosed with back in August 2021. However, prior to that, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2008, when she was just 36 years old.
“I went through five weeks of work without telling anyone that this was going on in my life,” she said during a CNN interview.
Applegate said she had dense breasts and would need more thorough examinations for her routine mammogram screenings.
“He suggested that I get an MRI,” the actress said.
WATCH: What to know about dense breasts.
Dr. Connie Lehman, Chief Breast Imaging Division at Mass General Hospital, says dense breast tissue is harder to see through.
“The fatty breast tissue has a gray appearance, so an X-ray beam just runs right through it. But the dense structures block the X-ray. And so that looks white. And unfortunately, cancers also block the X-ray, and so cancers also look white. When you have a white cancer hiding in white, dense breast tissue, it can be missed,” Dr. Lehman explains.
Women with dense breasts are recommended a 3D mammogram, which can better see through dense breasts.
When Applegate underwent an MRI screening, something was amiss.
“They found some funky things going on [in one breast],” she recounted.
A biopsy confirmed her diagnosis, but luckily, the cancer was caught early. Despite her prognosis, she was still very concerned with her diagnosis. She then turned her worry into determination, and she focused her efforts on beating the cancer.
She underwent a lumpectomy, which is a procedure that removes the tumor and some of the surrounding tissue. For early-stage breast cancer, studies have shown that lumpectomy plus radiation is as effective a treatment in preventing breast cancer recurrence as mastectomy.
SurvivorNetTV Presents: Defying All Odds
Applegate then underwent six weeks of radiation, using high-energy beams aimed at the cancer cells to kill them.
During treatment, she then learned she tested positive for the BRCA gene, increasing her risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.
“That sort of changed everything for me. Radiation was something temporary, and it wasn’t addressing the issue of this coming back or the chance of it coming back in my left breast. I sort of had to kind of weigh all my options at that point,” she explained.
The harmful variant of BRCA1 or BRCA2 is inherited from either or both of your parents. So, each offspring of a parent who carries the mutation has a 50% chance of inheriting it.
“Patients with a strong family history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer or patients who have a diagnosis of a couple of breast cancers in their lifetime will be at higher risk,” University of Maryland breast medical oncologist Dr. Kate Tkaczuk explains.
WATCH: Testing for the BRCA gene mutation.
RELATED: Should I have a lumpectomy or mastectomy?
The actress’ doctor gave her treatment options, but she ultimately opted for a double mastectomy, which removes both breasts to reduce her cancer risk. When a woman undergoes a double mastectomy, it is a personal and emotional decision that impacts how they feel about themselves.
“It just seemed like, ‘I don’t want to have to deal with this again. I don’t want to keep putting that stuff in my body. I just want to be done with this,’ and I was just going to let them go,” she explained.
Just before the procedure, Applegate said she staged her “first and last nude photo shoot” so she could remember her breasts. Just before the surgery began, Applegate admitted she began to cry.
“The floodgates just opened up, and I lost it…It’s also a part of you that’s gone, so you go through a grieving process and a mourning process,” she explained.
“A double mastectomy typically takes about two hours for the cancer part of the operation, the removing of the tissue,” Dr. Elisa Port, Chief of Breast Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, tells SurvivorNet. “The real length, the total length of the surgery, can often depend on what type of reconstruction [a patient] has.”
Dr. Port adds most women do opt to have some reconstruction. The length of these surgeries can vary. When implants are used, the procedure can take two to three hours (so the total surgery time would be around five hours). There is also the option to take one’s own tissue (usually from the belly area) and transfer it into the breast area, but this is a much longer procedure.
Since her breast cancer journey began, she’s advocated for women to undergo the necessary screenings for early detection.
Sex After Cancer: How Women Can Connect the Body & Mind
Although Appleton hasn’t gone into detail on how cancer treatment affected her in private, it’s important to understand that many women experience sexual side effects both during and after treatment for various types of cancers, but most won’t address the topic with their doctors.
Not speaking out to their doctors could be because they feel embarrassed, uncomfortable, or because there’s simply so much going on during treatment, that women forget to think about sexual health.
Sex After Cancer: What’s the Difference Between Lubricant and Moisturizer?
Remember, it’s important for patients to understand that a healthy sex life is attainable after facing cancer, though it may look a little different.
RELATED: How to Find Your Confidence and be Bold
Memorial Sloan Kettering clinical health psychologist and sexual health therapist Dr. Jeanne Carter previously explained to SurvivorNet that many women who experience sexual issues feel ashamed because they don’t understand how common these problems are.
“Patients actually feel like it’s just them, that no one else is having these issues,” Dr. Carter said. “So, I think it’s important for healthcare providers to raise the topic so it can normalize their experience, as well as give them an avenue to get information and support.”
When it comes to physical discomfort, as some cancer treatments can lead to menopause or menopause-like symptoms, the sexual side effects can result in emotional and physical pain.
Expert Resources On Coping With Emotions & Relationship Advice After Battling Cancer
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- Sex After Cancer: How Women Can Connect the Body & Mind and Find the Right Products
Therefore, any discomfort felt amid sex or sexual activity can quickly prompt a loss of sexual excitement. Dr. Carter made it a point to stress the importance of using lubricants and moisturizers.
Dr. Carter explained, “A lot of times people feel like lubricants are the solution, and they are part of the solution, but they are not the entire solution. When you don’t have estrogen, you usually are not having moisture in the vagina, as well as on the vulva.”
It’s important to make sure the vulva, or the external part of a woman’s genitals, is well-moisturized as well, Dr. Carter said. There are options for both non-hormonal moisturizers and low-dose estrogen moisturizers. Dr. Carter gave examples of a few non-hormonal products that work well for many women—like Hyalo Gyn, Replens, Revaree— and noted that women dealing with cancer side effects will usually need to moisturize more often.
SN & You: Discussing Sex and Sexuality After Cancer
“We find that women need to moisturize more in the cancer setting, like 3 to 5 times per week, whereas the product instructions will tell you to only use it 2 to 3 times a week and only in the vagina,” Dr. Carter added.
As for the emotional aspect of it, Dr. Carter explained, “Sexuality is physical and emotional and they’re completely enmeshed, so you can’t really treat this without addressing both of those issues.
“I think women going through a cancer experience are just really trying to make sense of what their body is going through.”
Whether you are mourning the loss of a body part, like breasts after a mastectomy, or trying to find the confidence to date again after treatment, there is support and guidance available.
Gynecological nurse practitioner Ashley Arkema also spoke to SurvivorNet on sex after cancer, advising, “I just encourage people to explore on their own some. Sometimes people say that they have a lack of interest, but a lot of times the lack of interest is directly correlated to the pain.
“If sex over time is painful over and over again, then you start to develop a negative association with it. So, I usually try to encourage people to explore on their own or limit activity to external stimulation until they feel like they’re able to tolerate penetrative sex.”
From trying new things in the bedroom to seeking the guidance of a therapist or peers in a support group, there should be options for women seeking all different types of support.
Dr. Carter and Arkema both stressed that women dealing with any sort of sexual side effects can find help, but the solutions will take some time and take some getting used to.
“A lot of these changes [to the body] happen very quickly and I think people are ready at different times to be ready to address it,” Dr. Carter said. “So, we always start with the physical stuff, because I think it actually slows women down to really treat these symptoms and connect with their body in a positive way because they’re healing and nurturing.
“There’s a lot to be said about that. Taking time and effort to actually pay attention to these areas and to touch these areas and to try to heal these areas I think wakes up something for women that there’s a part of their body that maybe they weren’t paying attention to.”
Sex & Intimacy
Sex is something that’s often overlooked when it comes to cancer treatment. Doctors are so focused on keeping patients alive, that the sexual side effects that come with cancer treatment aren’t really factored in as an important part of the equation. This is an issue that comes up often when we interview both male and female survivors.
But cancer can also open up doors to exploring your body in a way you never have before. Breast cancer survivor Ericka Hart said anyone worrying that they may never have sex again after facing cancer, really shouldn’t.
Kink and BDSM can be a ‘beautiful way to reclaim your body,’ says survivor Ericka Hart
“If you’ve just been diagnosed and you are thinking you’re never going to have sex again, think again,” Hart said, sharing that it helped her learn a new sexual avenue.
“Kink and BDSM was a huge part of my healing. When you go through breast cancer, it’s almost like a non-consensual pain you’re going through … but to have someone spank you, or flog you, or even choke you in a consensual way that you’re asking for can be a really beautiful way to reclaim your body.”
RELATED: “I Just Want to Have Sex Again” Life After Treatment
Expressing fantasies, watching adult films together — from the highly tasteful to the taboo — and reading erotic poetry or literature are other ways to spice up your sex life as a couple (or to explore individually).
If single, online dating may open up opportunity for virtual communication sexually. Some feel more fulfilled just having an emotional connection with someone, even if the person is across the world.
Watch: SN & You: Discussing Sex and Sexuality After Cancer
Coping With Body Image
It’s common for cancer survivors to struggle with the physical part of their own health journey, clinical psychologist Dr. Marianna Strongin previously told SurvivorNet.
“Your body has changed and represents this difficult chapter in your life and simply accepting all of that is far too simple,” said Strongin.
To help combat these feelings, Strongin suggests to spend time in front of the mirror looking at the parts you truly love, adding, “Give them time, honor them and then thank them.”
Strongin then says to spend time looking at the part (or parts) of your body that have been impacted by cancer or disease, such as your chest where your breasts have been removed, or your head where there is no longer hair.
Celebrity Stylist Ann Caruso says dressing your best can make you feel better while going through cancer.
“At first you may experience a flood of emotions — this is expected and normal. As you allow yourself to spend more time looking at all of you, you will begin having a new relationship with your body,” Strongin explained.
“It may not happen immediately, but with time you can begin honoring and thanking that part of your body by creating a more accepting relationship with yourself.”
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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