Amanda Peet is opening up about one of the most challenging moments in her life. The actress revealed she was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer as she cared for her parents, who were both in hospice in opposite parts of the country.
In an essay published on The New Yorker and titled “My Parents Were Both Dying. Then I found Out I Had Cancer,” Peet discussed the surreal and painful experience she lived through last year, when she had a routine mammogram that resulted in a biopsy and more medical procedures.
“I had been seeing a breast surgeon every six months for checkups,” she wrote, explaining that she had been monitoring her breasts over the years due to their “dense” nature. As she went through the process of doctors determining the extent of the disease, her parents, who were long divorced, were both in hospice care. In the essay, she explained that her dad died suddenly, with her being unable to reach him and say goodbye.
© Apple TV via Getty Images“Our mother’s had started in June, but our father’s was only a week in, so we hadn’t expected him to go first,” she wrote. “I flew to New York. I didn’t make it before my father took his last breath, but I got to see his body before it was taken from his apartment.”
When she returned home to California, she learned that her cancer was “hormone-receptor-positive” and “HER2-negative,” good news that she celebrated. “But after about 10 minutes, I remembered that I still needed the MRI and regressed to baseline terror,” she wrote. “It was dawning on me that cancer diagnoses come in a slow drip.”
She concludes her essay by revealing that her mother passed away after struggling with Parkinson’s disease. “We locked eyes and she quieted down, and then she and I continued to stare at each other for what felt like several minutes,” she wrote.
© GettyImagesThe moment she told her kids
Peet is married to David Benioff, the screenwriter and co-creator of “Game of Thrones.” The couple shares three children: Frances Pen, Molly June, and Henry.
She revealed that it took her some time to share the news with her children, with her informing them after she’d learned that her cancer was very treatable. “My therapist said that I didn’t have to appear strong or unfazed or have definitive answers. She said that I’d be surprised by how much children can step up and that calling for all hands on deck can make them feel useful,” she said.
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