Actress Rita Wilson revealed Tuesday she underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer — and hopes to be back on Broadway next month.
Wilson, who had been appearing in Larry David’s hit play “Fish in the Dark,” says she is alive because she listened to a pal — and her “gut.”
“I am recovering and most importantly, expected to make a full recovery,” the 58-year-old actress said in a statement to People magazine. “Why? Because I caught this early, have excellent doctors and because I got a second opinion.”
Wilson, who is married to double Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks, said he was “by my side” when she went under the knife last week.
“I feel blessed to have a loving, supportive husband, family, friends, and doctors and that I am the beneficiary of advances in the field of breast cancer and reconstruction,” she wrote. “I am getting better every day and look forward to renewed health. I hope this will encourage others to get a second opinion and to trust their instincts if something doesn’t ‘feel’ right.”
Wilson did not identify the friend who advised her to seek out a second opinion after a first biopsy determined she was cancer free. But she said that woman was also a breast cancer survivor.
“I share this to educate others that a second opinion is critical to your health,” Wilson wrote. “You have nothing to lose if both opinions match up for the good, and everything to gain if something that was missed is found, which does happen. Early diagnosis is key.”
Unlike Angelia Jolie, who had a preventive double mastectomy two years ago, cancer has not stalked Wilson’s family, a source close to the actress said.
“I know she lost her mom, but it wasn’t to breast cancer,” the source said, referring to the actress’ mother, Dorothy, who died in December at age 93. “Her parents both lived until a ripe old age.
“Her story is really about getting that second opinion,” the source said. “And just reading the reaction on social media, the support and sentiments are very moving. She’s doing well and getting stronger every day.”
Besides her Broadway and TV turns, Wilson has appeared in movies like “Sleepless in Seattle” and “That Thing You Do!” and scored a huge hit as producer of independent movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”
Wilson, who has two kids with Hanks, said she had been going for regular breast examinations because she has “an underlying condition of LCIS.”
That stands for lobular carcinoma in situ and increases the risk of women developing breast cancer.
Wilson, who made her Broadway debut in 2006 as Roxie Hart in “Chicago,” expects to return to “Fish in the Dark” on May 5, her spokeswoman said.
