Former "Baywatch" babe Nicole Eggert has been diagnosed with stage 2 cribriform carcinoma breast cancer, the New York Post reported. The 51-year-old experienced a painful lump she initially chalked up to menopause.
Eggert's ordeal began in October when she began suffering "terrible pain" in her left breast with an accompanying lump. The "Charles in Charge" star said she wasn't feeling well and had packed on 25 pounds in a matter of three months.
"It really was throbbing and hurting. I immediately went to my general practitioner, and she told me I had to immediately go get it looked at," Eggert said to People, which broke the story in an exclusive.
"But the problem was I just couldn’t get an appointment. Everything was booked. So I had to wait until the end of November to get it done," the "Whose the Boss?" actress went on.
"This journey’s been rough for me. This hasn’t been a breezy sale through life. I always read inspirational quotes and corny stuff, but it gets me through," Eggert added.
The actress has had a rough time since her acting career cooled off more than a decade ago. Eggert filed for bankruptcy in 2014 and has been struggling since.
Her friend and colleague Mindy Molinary has set up a GoFundMe to help with expenses. Eggert anticipates that the treatment will also take a physical toll on her.
"It’s there. It needs to be taken out," Eggert said. Eggert isn't sure what the treatment will entail first, whether surgery or medication, but it's an aspect she worries about frequently.
"You sit there and it’s in you and you’re like, every second that passes and it’s inside of me. It’s growing, and you’re just like, you just want it out," Eggert added.
The actress, best known for donning the iconic red swimsuit as a "Baywatch" lifeguard alongside David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson, is no stranger to the disease that impacted both of her parents. Eggert's mother suffered from colon cancer, and her father had skin cancer.
Perhaps that has shaped her biggest fear of leaving behind her daughters Dilyn, 25, and Keegan, 12, without a mother. "[Dilyn’s] an adult, but I have a 12-year-old at home where I’m the only caregiver," Eggert said.
"I have no family. I have nothing. 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," the actress said of Keegan.
"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...At night, when I lay down, I panic because I’m like, well, who’s going to cover all the bills? Who’s going to do all of this?" Eggert worried.
It appears Eggert has a rough battle ahead. Cancer is serious, but treatments and public support will go a long way to helping her through the battle.
