She may be the apple of Ted Moseby's eyes or the strong-willed left hand of Nick Fury played by Samuel L. Jackson, but Cobie Smulders was just as vulnerable when she recently opened about her battle with ovarian cancer.
In an interview with Women's Health, where she is the feature cover, wearing only shorts and exposing her tone legs and great body, she shared how she learned that she had ovarian cancer while they were shooting for the third season of How I Met Your Mother. She was only 25.
Her doctor discovered that she had tumors in both of her ovaries and that she needed to undergo surgery. Her operations eventually lasted for two years since her cancer had already spread to the nearby tissues and lymph nodes. The only consolation was that her cancer was discovered early.
It is unclear whether she carried the BRCA1 gene, a mutated gene that is also associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Early this year, Angelina Jolie had her ovaries removed after going through a mastectomy a couple of years ago in order to bring her risk down.
Although it has been almost 10 years since her first diagnosis, she still does not feel as if she is free of cancer. Nevertheless, she thinks of her experience as a positive experience where she is able to learn many things. For example, she has been keeping herself fit and healthy with a proper diet. She has also agreed to appear topless in the May cover to encourage other women to celebrate their bodies for their own satisfaction. Most of all, if she is given the right avenue, she is willing to spread awareness of ovarian cancer.
Smulders is currently married to Taran Killam, who appears in Saturday Night Live. Together, they have two children, a daughter and a son.
