Amanda Peet Shares Breast Cancer Diagnosis
A Journey Through Grief and Diagnosis
Amanda Peet, known for her role in the television series “Your Friends & Neighbors,” has shared her personal story of battling breast cancer. In an essay published in The New Yorker, she detailed the emotional journey that led up to her diagnosis and the challenges that followed.
Peet began by reflecting on her close relationship with her mother, whom she described as someone she shared everything with. She expressed the difficulty of keeping her diagnosis a secret from her mother, who was in the final stages of Parkinson’s disease. “So it was strange not to tell her, last fall, that I’d been diagnosed with cancer,” she wrote.
She explained that for many years, she had been informed that her breasts were “dense” and “busy,” which required extra monitoring. Peet had been visiting a breast surgeon every six months for checkups. However, during a routine scan, her doctor became unusually quiet, indicating something was wrong. “Dr. K. usually chatted me up while she examined me, but this time she went silent. She told me that she didn’t like the way something looked on the ultrasound and wanted to perform a biopsy,” Peet recalled.
The following day, her doctor provided a preliminary report stating that the tumor appeared small, but an MRI was needed to determine the extent of the disease. This was a moment of uncertainty for Peet, as she grappled with the possibility of her condition being more severe.
Balancing Personal Loss and Health Challenges
As Peet faced her health concerns, she also dealt with the loss of her father. Her sister informed her that their father was in hospice, and she was unable to be there when he passed away. “I did not make it before my father took his last breath, but I got to see his body before it was taken from his apartment,” she wrote.
Peet described the conflicting emotions she felt after seeing her father’s body. “I felt guilty for not crying, but at least I got a reprieve from guessing how much longer I had to live.” Despite the grief, her thoughts remained focused on her own health, as she struggled to process the news of her diagnosis.
Amid these challenges, Peet and her sister faced the difficult task of informing their mother about their father’s death. Their conversations had become increasingly brief over the years, with Peet providing only positive updates about her life. “Our talks had become shorter and shorter until I was only giving her positive, bite-size updates about my life,” she noted.
Navigating Treatment and Emotional Turmoil
Peet’s doctor soon gave her an update, texting, “All poodle features!” This meant her breast cancer was treatable. While she felt a surge of happiness, the reality of her situation quickly set in. “I was happier than I’d been pre-diagnosis, when I was just a regular person who didn’t have cancer. But after about ten minutes I remembered that I still needed the MRI and regressed to baseline terror,” she wrote.
The subsequent MRI-guided biopsy revealed a second mass in the same breast. Peet described the experience as “when a tumor sample is extracted while you’re inside the big white imaging doughnut.” She recounted the anxiety of waiting for results, as the doctor mentioned a 50% chance of finding more cancer.
Two days later, the news came that the second mass was benign, and Peet would only need a lumpectomy and radiation. This allowed her and her husband to share the news with their children about her mother’s diagnosis.
A Time of Reflection and Closure
In January, two weeks after Peet had her first clear scan, the hospice nurse suggested she call the mortuary, as her mother was expected to pass away soon. Peet spent time with her mother before she died, reflecting on their relationship. “I wasn’t sure whether my mom knew that she was looking at me or whether I was just a constellation of interesting, disembodied shapes,” she wrote.
Peet concluded her essay by emphasizing the importance of communication and connection, even in the face of adversity. “I said ‘howdy doodle’ – that’s how she often greeted me. But then I realized that she was communing without words, and I followed suit. Time was running out, and, besides, I had already told her everything.”
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