New Zealand television personality Jaquie Brown has revealed she has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is recovering from a mastectomy.
In a post to Instagram, the actor and broadcaster said she was diagnosed in April.
"On the screen in front of me was a scan of my left breast with an Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer (ILC) that’d been in there for at least a couple of years despite my clear mammograms," she wrote.
ILC is the second most common type of breast cancer and harder to detect through standard mammograms as it is less likely to cause a bump.
"Tests showed it wasn’t genetic, so to make this delicious (ER+ PR+ HER2-) tumour, my body followed the common recipe: a pinch of environmental factors + a dollop of being a person over 45 with breasts + a sprinkle of organic ‘not my fault ’, then cooking everything on low in the dark for a few years," Brown wrote.
Brown, 50, said she underwent a mastectomy in May where "the weed was removed".
"Now treatment is focused on keeping my garden inhospitable to rogue cancer seeds.
"Radiation, infusions, more surgeries, injections and pills – this is a plan I’ll be on for 10 years."
Brown shared pictures of a cake shaped like breasts, with text reading: "All the breast leftie, thanks for the mammaries."
She called the physical adjustment a "profound shift in my body’s chemistry".
"I’m both overwhelmed and grateful. My mantra is 'adjust then thrive', and that’s what I plan on doing. I’m currently in the wobbly adjust phase, but I’ve got my eye on thrive."
Brown said Kiwi comedian Dai Henwood – also in the midst of a cancer journey that he has shared in his book The Life of Dai – taught her "a diagnosis isn’t just for you; it’s for everyone who cares about you, too".
"Thank you, Dai, for your friendship and for preparing me for this without even realising it."
She said friends had "surrounded me with love, and that feels like medicine".
"This has been and still is an emotional rollercoaster, unlocking a new level of vulnerability and anxiety as well as true empathy and understanding for anyone dealing with cancer."
Brown co-created and starred in The Jaquie Brown Diaries, playing a fictionalised version of herself. The show won several awards. She also worked as a reporter on Campbell Live, and as a presenter for C4 Music and The Project.
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