Fran Drescher Believes Her Cancer Diagnosis Was Linked to Her Rape Years Before
Fran Drescher and her ex-husband Peter Marc Jacobson recently sat down with Australian talk show Studio 10. The two gave a candid interview and opened up about being victims of a home invasion in 1985, during which she was raped at gunpoint.
Years later, the actress developed uterine cancer. She eventually beat it, but the experience made her wonder if it was connected to her earlier trauma.
Drescher said, “A little bit more than 10 years after the rape, I was diagnosed with cancer. And that, I think, is a poetic correlation because I didn’t really deal with my pain for many, many, many, many years with the rape.”
Drescher, who had endured years of misdiagnosis, explained why she thinks she later got cancer. She said, “I ended up with a gynecological cancer, so it kind of ends up being poetic in where the body decides to break down and create disease.”
The 59-year-old has survived rape, two divorces, and cancer. Through it all, she maintains a positive outlook on life. “You’ll never be the same. But whatever that is, then forge forward with that and turn your pain into purpose, which is what I always do.”
2007 marked the seven-year anniversary of Drescher’s cancer surgery, and that year she launched the Cancer Schmancer Movement. Her nonprofit organization is dedicated to helping women who are battling cancer.
She concluded, “It’s been a colossal learning experience. I’m not glad I had cancer and I don’t wish it on anyone, but I am better for it. Sometimes the best gifts come in the ugliest packages.”
In other entertainment news, Gloria Estefan paid tribute to her late mom:
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