Rita Wilson, a character actress, executive producer, singer, Broadway producer, and wife of Tom Hanks, has just recently revealed she had undergone a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery due to breast cancer diagnosis.
The 58-year-old who shares two children with Hanks, her husband of almost 30 years, confessed that the procedure was necessary to treat lobular carcinoma in situ, which serves as a DNA marker and which forces the actress to undergo annual MRI scan and mammogram.
In her first of the recent mammograms and biopsies, the results came out clear, but she decided to seek second opinion, which then showed that she indeed had the cancer. Since it's still in situ, the cancer cells are still in the lobules and have therefore not yet spread in the other parts of the body such as the lymph nodes of the armpits.
According to the actress's publicist Heidi Schaeffer, Wilson is expected to return to work by May 5 for her Broadway performance in Fish in the Dark by Larry David.
In her statement to People magazine on Tuesday, April 14, she remains optimistic that she'll fully recover from the disease.
In the meantime, she encourages women to obtain second opinion, as there's "nothing to lose" by doing it. She also promotes early detection and diagnosis by undergoing regular breast cancer screening tests.
In an interview conducted by People on Dr. Kristi Funk, who also treated Angelina Jolie when she decided to voluntarily remove her breasts after she was discovered to carry a defective cancer gene, the kind of cancer risk Wilson has requires constant surveillance. If the breasts are too dense that potential tumors are unclear, ultrasound may also be performed. Taking medications such as Tamoxifen may also reduce the cancer risk.
Wilson has appeared in certain movies with Hanks such as Sleepless in Seattle. She has also produced some hit movies like Mamma Mia and My Big Fat Greek Wedding.