Nicole Eggert, who is best known for her role as Summer Quinn on Baywatch, has revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
During a recent interview with PEOPLE, Eggert stated that she received her diagnosis in early December 2023. She stated that she gained 25lbs in three months and had “terrible pain” in her left breast a couple of months prior.
Although she dismissed the symptoms as being menopause, Nicole Eggert consulted her doctor after she discovered a lump during a self-exam. “It really was throbbing and hurting,” she recalled. “I immediately went to my general practitioner and she told me I had to immediately go get it looked at.”
However, Eggert struggled to even get an appointment to have the lump looked at. “Everything was booked,” said the actress. “So I had to wait until the end of November to get it done.”
After she had a mammogram done as well as three biopsies, Nicole Eggert said her pathology reports came back positive for cancer. “This journey has been rough for me,” she explained. “This hasn’t been a breezy sale through life. I always read inspirational quotes and corny stuff, but it gets me through.”
In order to be free of the cancer, Eggert has to have surgery. She said she’s now waiting for her oncologist to determine when chemotherapy and radiation treatments will start. She further stated that she doesn’t know if the cancer has spread to other parts of her body.
“I can definitely feel it,” Nicole Eggert said about the lump. “It’s there. It needs to be taken out. 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.”
Nicole Eggert Says Her ‘Biggest Fear’ Is Not Being There For Her Children
Along with determining the next course of action for her cancer treatments, Nicole Eggert reveals that her biggest fear in all of this is not being there for her two children. She has daughters Keegan, 12, and Dilyn, 25.
“[Dilyn’s] an adult, but I have a 12-year-old at home where I’m the only caregiver,” Eggert explained. “I have no family. I have nothing.”
Nicole Eggert then recalled telling her daughters about the diagnosis and seeing the “horror” on Keegan’s face. “It immediately made me realize there’s just no succumbing to this. This is something I have to get through. This is something I have to beat. She needs me more than anything and anybody.”
To help with the medical expenses, Eggert’s friend Mindy Molinary created a GoFundMe campaign on her behalf. Eggert said that being a single mother has not been an “easy road” financially. “My fear is that everyday hustle, everything 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.”
Eggert added that the entire situation is so overwhelming. “I’m just doing everything I can not to spiral. 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?”