[00:00:00] Adam Walker: From Susan G Komen. This is Real Pink, A podcast exploring real stories, struggles, and triumphs related to breast cancer. We’re taking the conversation from the doctor’s office to your living room.
[00:00:17] When Inside Edition reporter Alison Hall was assigned to cover Olivia Munn’s breast cancer story, she agreed to use the same breast cancer assessment tool that Munn used and do it on screen. Not only was this part of her research for her story, but it would also help raise awareness. What she did not expect was that her risk score ultimately would lead to her own breast cancer diagnosis at the age of 32.
[00:00:41] Alison bravely shared the news of her diagnosis on national television and has since been transparent in documenting her thoughts and feelings along the way in hopes to help other women feel less alone. We’re so excited to have her on the show today to share her story with all of you. Alison, welcome to the show.
[00:00:58] Alison Hall: Thank you so much for having me.
[00:01:00] Adam Walker: Well I’m glad to have you. I we talked a little pre-show, but to start with, Olivia Munn always. A joy to interview one of my, one of my favorite interviews, I think. She’s amazing. So I really, I mean, just a really amazing person. So you got to do that interview and that’s how you sort of found out about everything.
[00:01:19] Just walk us through how all that happened.
[00:01:22] Alison Hall: Well, you know what, I actually, I only recently met her and interviewed her about our shared experiences, but a year ago, last spring when Olivia Munn came out saying that she had breast cancer and she had been undergoing treatment and had gone through surgeries, and she explained how she was diagnosed, that her doctor had recommended she take the breast cancer risk assessment test.
[00:01:44] Right. And because she had this high score, then that set off the chain of events. So at Inside Edition, we interview celebrities sometimes. In this case, we actually didn’t interview Olivia. I mean, she was pretty busy dealing with everything she was dealing with, but we still covered the story saying, right, look, Olivia Munn has been diagnosed with breast cancer and this is how she said it happened.
[00:02:05] So we usually want to go talk to a doctor or an expert in the field with whatever story that we’re working on. So my bosses said, go interview a breast cancer doctor and talk to them about more young women being diagnosed with breast cancer and this breast cancer risk assessment test that Olivia Munn has said that she used.
[00:02:26] So I did that. We found a great doctor from Lennox Hill Hospital here in the city. I went up the street. Their office is really close to our office, and I just thought, you know, another reporting day, I do this sort of thing all the time. I’ve been in countless doctor’s offices for work, right? Yeah. And while I was there, my bosses
[00:02:44] called me and said, Hey, would you mind taking the breast cancer risk assessment test on camera? Oh, wow. And I thought, you know what? Yeah, of course. Like it’s to raise awareness. I looked at the questions. Nothing was, you know, too, it’s pretty personal, but I, it was stuff that I was comfortable sharing.
[00:03:01] Sure. And so I talked to the doctor about it. She thought it was a great idea to raise awareness for what this test is was or is. And so I took the test. She administered it just really by asking me a series of questions and inputting them into her computer. At the end of the test, she said, okay, your test result is 36%.
[00:03:23] We had known that Olivia Munn’s was 37.3%, and that any score over 20% is considered high. And I remember getting that going. Oh, okay. Like that’s higher than I expected. That’s right next to Olivia Munn’s and she has breast cancer now. Right? It’s a little scary. But at the same time, I thought, okay, well it’s a lifetime risk that’s over my whole life and I’m gonna use this knowledge and I’m going to start getting regular screenings, which is what the doctor recommended.
[00:03:55] Even, you know, as our cameras turned off, she said, why don’t you make an appointment with my office and we’ll get you on an early screening schedule. I was only 32 at the time. So every doctor I had spoken to in the past had said, start getting mammograms at 40, right? And I thought, okay, at least taking this test will give me the opportunity to start getting early screenings.
[00:04:17] And I just thought it’ll be like going to the dentist once a year. I’ll go to the breast doctor here and I’ll get checked and that’s it. And you know, I’ll just be dealing with this for a long time and it will be totally fine. Of course, I had no idea that within six months of those events that I would actually be diagnosed with breast cancer.
[00:04:37] Adam Walker: Oh, wow. I that, I mean, chills, like That’s wild. I mean, that, that’s the coincidence. I mean I don’t even know. That’s wild. So, all right. So truly, so, so walk us through the emotions of that. I mean, first of all, like you’re, you were on camera getting these results, right? Yeah. And so like, walk us through. The emotions of like being on camera, getting the results.
[00:05:00] Were you surprised? Do you have a family history of breast cancer and then once the camera stopped rolling, like what was that moment like for you?
[00:05:08] Alison Hall: Yeah, I mean, I think the difference is I didn’t get the diagnosis on camera and Okay. Right. And so this was a test result that said that I may get breast cancer in the future.
[00:05:21] Okay. My mom is a breast cancer survivor. My aunt is a breast cancer survivor. I knew I had breast cancer in my family and it’s an issue very close to my heart having watched my mom go through much more intense treatment for breast cancer. So I wasn’t entirely surprised that I had a higher risk because of those things, but I think I was surprised as to what it meant.
[00:05:45] I think it really felt to me like, oh, this is something that I need to deal with now and that I need to be really proactive about. Being 32, I sort of thought, nah, that’s a future me problem. I’ll deal with that later on in life. Right, and so getting that test results on camera. It sort of shocked me in a way that felt like, oh, I have been living sort of blissfully and I need to pay attention to this now.
[00:06:15] But you know, even after the cameras we’re off. And after I spoke to the wonderful doctor who suggested that I come back for more screenings, I thought, okay, I’m gonna use this. This is really good. I’m glad I did this story, and I’ll just stay on top of it. Yeah, I think if I had known, you know, maybe what was going to happen in the next year, I would’ve had much more of an intense reaction.
[00:06:39] But instead, I just thought, okay, knowledge is power and I’m gonna pay attention to this.
[00:06:44] Adam Walker: I mean, that’s a good attitude to have, right? So I’m, it sounds like you had the right attitude there. I mean, so, all right, so then you get outta there. You move on with your life, you get, you know, you go through exams.
[00:06:55] What happens next? And tell us about your diagnosis and treatment plan.
[00:06:59] Alison Hall: Yeah, so because the cancer was caught so early stage zero DCIS I had a few treatment options, but there’s really so many side effects and things that happen with each treatment option that you choose. So initially I was considering getting a lumpectomy then doing radiation and hormone therapy is what my doctor recommended.
[00:07:24] However, I’m at an age and at a time in my life where I’m hoping to have children quite soon. And doing that would mean that hormone therapy would need to be paused and they typically want you to be on it for a few years before they pause it. And you can’t get pregnant while you’re on it. And the idea that when you’re pregnant, you can’t get screened. So I wouldn’t be able to go for those ma I mean, you can get physically screened, but Right. You are supposed to avoid mammograms and MRIs while you’re pregnant, right? So just being at this very specific time in my life that sounded really scary to me and I also thought I’m 32 years old.
[00:08:09] I have very dense breasts that they’ve already found cancer in. Through this MRI process, I had a lump removed that ended up being benign in my twenties. As well from my breasts. I already had a lumpectomy. Just being this young and already having these various things, I started considering doing a double mastectomy on the right side where I had cancer to treat it, but to do a preventative measure and to right.
[00:08:39] Do a mastectomy and be able to have a clean slate, as I call it. My doctor always reminds me it’s not a totally clean slate. Right. Yeah. You still do have a risk of recurrence, but your risk, for me at least they’re telling me it’s below 3% of ever having breast cancer again. Which. Is a really great number.
[00:08:58] It’s much better. Sorry.
[00:08:59] Adam Walker: That’s pretty good odds. Yeah, it’s much
[00:09:00] Alison Hall: better than a hundred percent already being diagnosed and it’s better than 36%, which was my lifetime risk before. So I decided to go to the double mastectomy with reconstruction route, and I had my double mastectomy in January of this year.
[00:09:16] Adam Walker: And so cancer’s not easy, right? But you’re kind of in this moment in your life, you’re hitting your stride. You’ve got this exciting job, at least that sounds exciting. You’re doing all these things and then you hit this sort of brick wall of cancer. What helped you navigate that? What helped you get through that emotionally and
[00:09:36] I mean, I guess, I guess physically too.
[00:09:37] Alison Hall: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, e everything you said is true. I actually have a voice note that I recorded just a few months before my diagnosis. I stepped outside of my apartment one day on my way to work, sun was shining and I, Just thought, I am so happy and grateful for my life and I wanna remember this.
[00:09:56] And I literally like made a little journal note in my phone, like, just remember this moment, Alison. This is just so, this is everything that you’ve ever wanted and worked for.
[00:10:04] Adam Walker: I love that.
[00:10:05] Alison Hall: And then just a few months later, this happens and it does feel like a brick wall. I had a really tough time with it.
[00:10:16] I’m not super human. I really struggled, especially in the early days post-diagnosis. I was reminding myself how grateful I was for the opportunity to get the diagnosis as early as I did. And like the miracle it felt like, of covering the story and then having this chain of events was truly amazing, but it still really weighed on me heavily.
[00:10:45] And it, it was just really hard. And it continues to be in some ways, what helped me, I think, is my incredible husband and family and friends. Just being so incredibly supportive and loving and the way that my community rallied around me was just absolutely amazing. But I think also just really looking inward, doing a lot of personal work.
[00:11:12] I have journaled and I’ve written a lot in the last year. I have an amazing therapist and just sort of sat in my own feelings instead of just pushing past them. I think lots of people have a tendency, including myself, to just go, okay, onto the next thing. I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that. I’m gonna, this is how I’m gonna change it.
[00:11:32] This is how I’m gonna make lemonade out of lemons. And while I have done that in some ways, I also think it’s really important that I have also just really sat in my feelings and tried to process this as much as possible. And I think that that has helped too.
[00:11:50] Adam Walker: Yeah. I mean, because those feelings are valid and they’re real, and you have to
[00:11:54] you have to honor that, right? Yeah. And deal with that. Yeah, I love that. I mean I’ve interviewed the types on this show that are just like gung-ho. I’m just gonna power through it. But I don’t feel like that’s most of us I feel like most of us need the slow down, the journaling, the reflection the thoughtfulness.
[00:12:10] Yeah. To work through it. I appreciate you, you sharing that. So I understand you live your life looking for glimmers throughout your days. I love that idea. Tell me more about that.
[00:12:21] Alison Hall: Yeah. So it started, I think I saw the idea on social media a few years ago. It started when I was taking the subway to work and it was post pandemic.
[00:12:33] Just as people in New York were starting to get back on the subway and the city was starting to fill up and I was a little grumpy, get, getting to work like, oh, the subway’s late again, and Oh, it’s smelly, or it’s busy, or whatever. I just needed an attitude readjustment, and I thought, okay, if I can just look for one thing on this packed, smelly subway that is
[00:12:59] sweet or cute, or is gonna bring a smile to my face. Maybe I can change my attitude about this and just enjoy my commute instead of just bearing through it. So I started doing it then and it worked. I almost every subway ride, I would find something adorable, a little kid. Oh, I love it. You know, doing homework or somebody giving up their seat for an elderly person and just thinking, oh, that’s so nice.
[00:13:23] So I started doing it then, and it really took off for me personally and for my family and friends who I would share it with, they would say, oh, like I saw a glimmer, just a little, something that made their day a little brighter. And so I, I had that practice and when I was diagnosed and when I was going through all of the testing and the doctor’s appointments leading up to it.
[00:13:44] That really helped. Like I remember being in the MRI machine, getting my MRI guided biopsy and it was unbelievably painful. One of the scariest things just emotionally too, that I had been through. Yeah. And you have to stay so still, which is so difficult while you’re emotional and in pain. And one of the MRI technicians reached out and held onto my hand that was free.
[00:14:12] She knew that I was really struggling, but that I was, you know, keeping myself so still and bearing through it. And just that handhold changed everything for me. And it just reminded me like, this is my scariest moment, and yet this person is giving me so much comfort and love and she doesn’t even know me.
[00:14:34] And everywhere that we look, we can find something like that. And reminding myself of that and looking forward at all of my appointments and surgeries and recovery days has really helped me remember that while things could be very hard, there’s also a lot of really beautiful, joyful things going on too.
[00:14:59] Adam Walker: That’s a really beautiful way to live. I really appreciate that. I’m gonna, I’m gonna look for some glimmers in my day to day, so thank you.
[00:15:04] Alison Hall: I hope you do.
[00:15:05] Adam Walker: Yeah, I will. I will. For sure. So, so back to your kinda wrapping up your treatment. Yeah. Talk to our listeners about the feelings you had before your final reconstruction and the letter you wrote to your new breasts.
[00:15:20] Alison Hall: Yeah. So this whole process has really been interesting because with getting a double mastectomy for cancer and preventatively, I was really focused on the cancer aspect of things and I didn’t focus as much on what it would mean for my body. And as a woman and as somebody who has worked really hard to have really strong and positive body image throughout my life, and it’s something that I’ve struggled with as so many people do.
[00:15:52] And I was really getting to a great place in my thirties to then have this thing where you are in a way, choosing to change your body because I made this big choice, but also I had to make a choice. And it felt like in a way it was sort of thrust upon me. And you are altering your body and there are consequences to that.
[00:16:14] And that side of things happened post-surgery, so post mastectomy and both, and post my reconstruction. And I’ve had to work really hard to try to reconnect and relearn what my body means to me and one of the things that my therapist had recommended is that I write my new breasts a letter, and I thought that it sounded sort of silly.
[00:16:42] But I did it and especially I was in a place a couple days after surgery where I was feeling like I’m didn’t like my new breasts and that I would never like them, you know, they’re bandaged and bruised and bloody and you’re in recovery, right? It’s not a pretty sight and it’s a little scary to see yourself that way.
[00:17:04] So it, the letter started off sort of like that letter from 10 Things I Hate About You. Like, like Dear New Breasts, I do not like you. These are all the reasons why.
[00:17:17] Adam Walker: Yeah.
[00:17:18] Alison Hall: But as it went along, I started to appreciate what these new breasts would mean to me, it would mean peace of mind. It would mean more trust.
[00:17:29] It would mean getting to live a long life. It would mean getting to have children hopefully and getting to be there for them. And appreciating them for all of those reasons and knowing that they also will improve. They won’t always be bandaged and bruised and bloody. And that I could appreciate them in a whole new way.
[00:17:53] And so it ended up being a really positive exercise. And I’ve, since now, several weeks out from surgery, I’ve looked at that letter and had a lot of empathy for that version of me that wrote it, but also I can write a new letter now that I’ve gotten to know them a little bit better. Yeah, and I think it’s been really helpful and it’s something that I continue to work on.
[00:18:16] I think that it’s gonna take a really long time to feel completely like my new breasts are a part of me completely. Yeah. But from the other survivors and women that I’ve spoken with there’s definitely a lot of hope and I think that I will feel even better as time goes along.
[00:18:34] Adam Walker: Yeah, I, so two thoughts.
[00:18:36] I love that you shared that it felt silly at first because I feel like a lot of time, a lot of us would’ve felt the same way, but also that in writing it, like there’s a, there’s something about expressing your emotion in written form that helps you process it. Right? Totally. And and I love I guess all I’m saying is I really appreciate you sharing that.
[00:18:56] I think it was really helpful.
[00:18:57] Alison Hall: Thank you.
[00:18:57] Adam Walker: To me and hopefully to our audience. How are you feeling now as you start to navigate survivorship?
[00:19:04] Alison Hall: Yeah. I feel good. I really, I don’t feel normal and I think I’m realizing like what even is normal right. And I don’t feel like my old self, I don’t think I ever will, but in a way, I feel like Alison 2.0 I feel…
[00:19:28] I feel pretty good physically. I’m still getting back, starting to work out again and starting to have less pain. I mean it’s all a pretty intense and painful procedure and thinking, oh, I’m fine and then I’ll, you know, quickly cross the street with my dog and I’ll sort of feel some random pains that are still lingering.
[00:19:51] So Right. Physically I’m getting a lot better. And emotionally I think it feels, I’ve described it like I’m a sailor who has crossed the ocean and there was a ginormous storm along the way. And even though I made it through the storm and I like made big decisions to, you know, take the mask down and do this and that, and we made it through.
[00:20:17] I’m still looking back at the storm going like that was really intense and I’m not ready to get back out on the water yet. Yeah. Clearly I’m a big analogy person, but it’s helped me sort of visualize why when someone might say, how are you? Or, oh, you’re all done. You must feel great.
[00:20:38] Adam Walker: Yeah.
[00:20:38] Alison Hall: I go, yeah.
[00:20:41] Maybe.
[00:20:43] Adam Walker: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and you’re not the first person that said that, like, that, like the, yeah, because people do tend to celebrate the win, but it’s not really the win yet. You’re still recovering from it. But yeah, but I love that analogy of the sale of the story. Like, like that’s a beautiful analogy.
[00:20:57] I’ve never thought of it that way, but I feel like it expresses what I’ve heard on this show so many times from so many different women that have landed where you’re at and they’re still they’re done, but they’re not done. Yeah, they’re still finishing recovery, so that’s..
[00:21:12] Alison Hall: Yeah. And in a way, I’m sure in several years I’ll feel differently than I do now, but in a way, I’m not sure that I’ll ever be totally done.
[00:21:21] And I think I’m processing or accepting the fact that’s okay and that this is a part of my life now. And in a way it’s a really beautiful thing, like the community that I’m now a part of and that the women that I’ve connected with, I hope that I hold on to that aspect of this experience forever.
[00:21:42] Adam Walker: Yeah, absolutely. Well, and you’re doing that right now. You’re building more community and sharing your story. And that brings me sort of my last thought. I mean, this is a full circle moment. I mean, you started this journey because Olivia Munn was telling her story about her breast cancer journey, and that prompted you.
[00:21:59] To go down the path that led you to, I think a much better outcome than it would’ve otherwise been. Right?
[00:22:04] Alison Hall: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:22:05] Adam Walker: And now you’re telling your story that hopefully will inspire someone else to get checked out. So I guess my last question is, do you have any final words on why it’s so important to, for you to be involved with this community and any final advice to any of our listeners?
[00:22:18] Alison Hall: Yeah. For me, I’m just so grateful that Olivia Munn gave me the gift of early detection. Especially having a mom who went through stage 2B cancer, chemo, radiation surgery, years of hormone therapy, I am so proud of her and all that she did to protect and save herself for us kids. But it was really intense and the fact that I was able to get my diagnosis so early and have a different outcome.
[00:22:54] I’m just so, so grateful for that. And so for anyone who isn’t in this community and who wants to stay on top of their health, just like Olivia Munn, I highly recommend the breast Cancer Risk Assessment Test and your annual checks and getting to know your body. That’s first and foremost. But for anyone who is maybe new to this community, newly diagnosed.
[00:23:21] I know how scary those days and moments are and how hard they can be, and I just really hope that people have the confidence that even in those really scary moments, you are able to find a huge well of strength within yourself and do the really hard thing that you need to do. And it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be painful, it’s going to be scary, but
[00:23:49] I am just so confident that every woman listening has that strength and that they can do it. And every single person that I’ve met in this community who has gone through it and gone through all of the different versions of it has found that. And so I’m just really hopeful that that is everyone’s experience.
[00:24:10] Adam Walker: Me too. Me too. Well, Alison your story’s amazing and I appreciate you sharing it so publicly so that it can inspire and help so many other people. Thank you for your story, for sharing it, and thank you for joining us on the show today.
[00:24:23] Alison Hall: I hope so. Thank you so much, Adam.
[00:24:29] Adam Walker: Thanks for listening to Real Pink, A weekly podcast by Susan G Komen. For more episodes, visit real pink.Komen.org. And for more on breast cancer, visit Komen.org. Make sure to check out at Susan G Komen on social media. I’m your host, Adam. You can find me on Twitter at AJ Walker or on my blog adam j walker.com.