\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n \tRelated story \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tNatalie Morales Concerned About Alzheimer’s After a Family Member Died from the Disease: ‘We Are at That Age’\t\t<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n \t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/article>\n \t \n\tMunn was diagnosed with breast cancer<\/a> in March 2023, at age 42, after her OB-GYN calculated her Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score<\/a> and recommended she have additional screening. The actress had just welcomed her first child, Malcolm, in 2021, and had been planning her second with now-husband John Mulaney when she got the diagnosis.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a huge marker,\u201d Munn said, reflecting on that moment. \u201cWhen somebody goes back and tells the story of your life, you think it\u2019s going to be one way, and all of a sudden, there\u2019s a fork in the road.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAfter she got through the initial out-of-body moment, Munn remembers getting \u201creally focused,\u201d a mindset she would stay in throughout treatment. She learned she had Luminal B cancer, and aggressive and fast-moving breast cancer, which they later found to be in both breasts.<\/p>\n \n\tFrom there, Munn says, \u201cit was off to the races.\u201d She had a double mastectomy just 30 days later.<\/p>\n \n\tThrough the whole ordeal, she says, she only cried twice: right before the double mastectomy, and a week after, when she saw herself with tissue expanders \u2014 empty breast implants not yet filled with liquid or air. (\u201cI didn\u2019t recognize myself,\u201d she explained previously on the SheMD<\/a><\/em> podcast.)<\/p>\n \n\tMunn also admits she was afraid of freezing her eggs amidst her diagnosis, as the hormones taken during the process can further stimulate some types of cancer. (Per Breastcancer.org<\/a>, fertility doctors who specialize in working with cancer patients can customize the medication regimen to protect the body from high estrogen levels, while still stimulating the ovaries to produce eggs.)<\/p>\n \n\tFor Munn, though, it was about an acceptance of fear and a decision to not let it run her life. \u201cI realized then that I think I\u2019ll be afraid for the rest of my life,\u201d she explained. With cancer, \u201cwe always have to look over our shoulder\u201d in case of a recurrence. \u201cI had decided that I can\u2019t choose where the fear wants to be and wants to sit\u2026 You might be sitting in the passenger side, you might be sitting in the back, but it\u2019s going to be in the car of my<\/em> life.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMunn was set on having a girl, no matter how many rounds it took \u2014 and, as her doctor told her, \u201cthe numbers aren\u2019t on our side.\u201d But then \u201cthe dream\u201d happened: two healthy embryos developed after her first egg retrieval, and both were baby girls. \u201cMy daughter M\u00e9i M\u00e9i\u2019 is one of those two,\u201d Munn said. She and Mulaney welcomed M\u00e8i June<\/a> in September 2024 via surrogate.<\/p>\n \n\tIt was quite a journey, from that surreal moment of diagnosis to a double mastectomy to today, with Munn telling Kotb about an idyllic home life<\/a> with her husband and two kids. And, Munn says, she found a new calling along the way: advocating for women to calculate their Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score, the test that resulted in her early diagnosis and successful treatment.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI had no idea when I talked about it, that it would be so far- reaching and help so many people, and but that was my goal,\u201d Munn said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I wanted\u2026 [I thought] if I do it right, maybe I could really make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Natalie](\"https:\/\/www.sheknows.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-sheknows-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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