Nicole Eggert, best known for her role as lifeguard Summer Quinn on Baywatch, has shared a heartbreaking update amid her breast cancer battle.
The 53-year-old actress was diagnosed with stage 2 cribriform carcinoma in late 2023 after mistaking her symptoms for menopause.
Eggert had gained 25 pounds in three months and was suffering “terrible pain” in her left breast when she discovered a lump during a self-check.
“I immediately went to my general practitioner, and she told me I had to immediately go get it looked at. 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,” she told PEOPLE.
A mammogram and three biopsies confirmed the cancer.
The diagnosis was overwhelming, particularly as a single mother. Eggert explained: “I have panics where I’m like, just get this out of me. 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.”
Her biggest fear was for her two daughters, Dilyn, 27, and Keegan, 14. “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.”
Now, months later, Eggert has given a heartbreaking update on how the treatments are taking a toll.
Speaking on the Pod Meets World podcast, she admitted: “I’m so sick of it... I have two good weeks out of every month and the other two weeks I’m at the treatment center. So it’s really all consuming," cited by The Sun.
She recently underwent a second mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, with more procedures scheduled. “I still have surgeries ahead of me next month that I’m excited about,” she shared. “I really took my time with that because I just didn’t know what was the right route for me.
"There are just so many opinions and options, and I’m someone that needs to sleep on it, so I took a year to listen to everybody, digest it all... It’s a big decision,” she added.
Co-host Danielle Fishel pointed out that even when Nicole feels “good,” she’s still not at her best. Nicole replied: “One hundred percent.”
Her daughters remain her greatest source of strength. “My oldest lives in New York so she didn’t have to witness a lot of it like my young one did but they’re supportive, they bring me to a place of taking me outside myself too, because when you’re a mom it gives you purpose and keeps you from feeling sorry for yourself,” she said. “Life is so much bigger than yourself when you’re a mom or a parent.”
A GoFundMe organized by her friend Mindy Molinary has raised more than $66,432 of its $100,000 goal to cover treatments, imaging, and living expenses.
Molinary explained that Eggert has "always found a way to get by, but this is different. She will be unable to work while undergoing surgery and treatments".
Eggert has previously spoken about wanting to give back once she’s through the worst of her battle. “I absolutely 100% want to start a non-profit for other single parents such as myself, who don’t have any family, don’t have anybody to turn to,” she said. “They take on all this by themselves because they love their kids so much, but when something happens to them, then what?”
Despite exhaustion and surgeries, Eggert says she’s determined to keep going - for her daughters and for others like her.