Drew Barrymore Reveals She Had a Breast Cancer ‘Scare’ After ‘Bad Mammogram’ and ‘Emergency Biopsy’
Drew Barrymore shared that she had a breast cancer scare after a “bad mammogram” led to an “emergency biopsy.”
On the Nov. 3 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, the actress, 50, shared the experience while talking with guest Tig Notaro, who underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer in 2016.
“This is the thing I’ve wanted to risk talking about on this show because — I recently had a scare,” Barrymore said.
“I’m completely fine, but I did get a bad mammogram and I got taken into that room and then I had an emergency biopsy and I waited those 5 days,” she explained.
Earlier in the episode, Drew hinted being personally touched by Notaro’s recent project, Come See Me in the Good Light. Notaro co-produced the documentary, which is about celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and her wife, Megan Falley, who navigated their lives after Gibson’s diagnosis with terminal ovarian cancer. The documentary debuts on Apple TV+ Nov. 14.
“I have been wanting to discuss a certain subject on this show, and I did not know how. It is a very tough one to approach,” Barrymore said. “But, having seen your documentary, I feel like I might be able to start scratching the surface here because of what you guys were brave enough, bold enough and smart enough to put out into the world, which is clearly being embraced, so I think that also gives us a little more confidence.”
Notaro, 54, described the film as “a very intimate portrait of a wildly inspiring beautiful person at the end of life with a beautiful, beautiful partner who is also a poet.”
Barrymore went on to share her favorite moment from the film, explaining, “Meg has, like, you know, she has had sort of body consciousness her whole life of: Do I look beautiful? Do I fit in? I am not a size 2. I don’t know if I love this part of myself. In fact, maybe I have weaponized and hated my own belly because it is not flat or six-pack. And one of the first things that Andrea does just kisses that belly and says, ‘I love this place so much.’ ”
Barrymore continued: “This documentary also gives you such an intimate portrait not only of these people’s lives, but what the journey of going through cancer is like, and it is not heavy. There’s a confidence, a courage, a strength, a reality, a humanity.”
After disclosing her breast cancer scare, Barrymore asked Notaro about her own diagnosis: “How did you calm yourself? How did you make peace with it?” adding that the comic has “spoken about it humorously, eloquently, fiercely, and brilliantly yourself.”
“It cracked me open completely,” Notaro said, adding that it forced her to ask for help. “I went from being somebody that held everything to myself. I was gonna do it on my own.”
“I mean, it forces you to get over any sort of feeling that you can’t ask for help or to act like you don’t need anybody, like I was doing.”
Notaro continued: “It is the greatest gift you can give yourself and the people that love you because people want to help. People want to do good and it, it changed my life.”