SurvivorAs the child of a mother who battled breast cancer not once, but twice, Christina Applegate knew the genetic odds were against her. She had also tested positive for the breast cancer gene, BRCA1. So Christina was smart; she started getting mammograms at 30 because of the family history. She recently broke the news that she was diagnosed with a very early form of cancer, but is now proud to say she's 100% cancer-free and looking forward to starting a family.
Opting to be proactive rather than reactive, Christina underwent a double mastectomy. While that may sound over-reactive, she remembers all too well her mother's struggle with recurring bouts of cancer. "I watched her have a mastectomy, and then I watched her go through two years of chemotherapy and eight surgeries and a hysterectomy," she says, crediting her mother's tenacity for inspiring her own no-nonsense approach.
Christina chose not to submit to chemotherapy or radiation to preserve her fertility; many women become sterile as a result of the toxic drugs used in those treatments. She's already talking about making some babies - we wish her well and we wish her a busload.
