A Candid Conversation About Breast Cancer With Nina Garcia, Toks Olagundoye, and More

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Hearst partnered with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) for “United Against Breast Cancer: Prevention and Care for All,” a discussion that looked at the issue through the experiences of four unique women. The panel included ELLE editor-in-chief and BCRF board member Nina Garcia, actress Toks Olagundoye, advocate Rebecca Porter, and oncologist Dr. Elizabeth Comen, who specializes in breast cancer.

The talk was moderated by Lucy Kaylin, the editorial director of Hearst Magazines, who opened the discussion with the most upsetting facts about breast cancer in America: Black women are 40 percent more likely to die from breast cancer, and twice as many Black women are diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer than white women. Further, Hispanic women and Latinas are more likely to encounter breast cancer at younger ages and carry the BRCA-I and BRCA-II mutations.

Lucy Kaylin, Dr. Elizabeth Comen, Nina Garcia, Toks Olagundoye, and Rebecca Porter.

Garcia, Olagundoye, and Porter spoke openly about medical experiences, highlighting unfortunate commonalities in care. “I hear day in and day out about women being dismissed, invalidated, knowing in their gut that something’s wrong. You needed that mammogram earlier. You knew in your family [history], you knew from your training, but also just that something wasn’t right, and this feeling of that so many women have,” Dr. Comen said. Not being heard can lead to women getting delayed care or even dying. “That’s just something that really has to change in our society and our culture, and we know is compounded for minorities, women of color, women of Hispanic heritage. Even if you have all the resources in the world, it’s hard, and yet we have this compound bias that really makes it very challenging to access quality care.”

Dr. Elizabeth Comen signing copies of her book.

Here are five important takeaways from the conversation.

“Know your normal”

The best way to know if something is wrong is to listen to your body. “I think it’s really important to do your self-examinations [and] know your normal,” Porter said. “That’s the biggest thing…know your normal, know what is normal to what you feel like, look like, and just be aware of your body. If something is off, you can speak up and say something about it. And again, find someone who hears you and sees you.”

Dr. Comen also stressed the importance of self-exams. “When it comes to self-breast exams, I can’t help but think, Why are we discouraging women from knowing what their normal feels like? I always tell women, when they’re menstruating, pick a time of the month, maybe two to three days after your period when [your breasts are] not as tender. Go online, learn how to do a self-breast exam,” she said.

Always advocate for yourself

Porter knew in her bones that something was wrong, but all of the doctors she saw told her not to worry about cancer. “Because of my age, no family history, no genetic mutation, I was pushed off like, ‘No, you can’t get a mammogram. You’re too young for a mammogram. You can’t get a mammogram,” she said. “I was like, ‘Okay, I hear you. However, there are lots of cases of women, young women with no family history getting breast cancer.’ Even though I don’t know how many doctors I saw before I was diagnosed, but I continued to push until I felt heard and seen.”

Rebecca Porter speaks on the panel.

Sharing your experience can truly help people

When Garcia, who had a BRCA mutation, decided to have surgery, it wasn’t something that she had talked to many people about. The decision to not only speak openly about it with her family and friends, but also to ELLE readers, was an incredibly difficult one.

“It was a personal decision and I did struggle with it, be completely honest,” she said. “I was a recent EIC for ELLE. I felt so conflicted. I protected my privacy so much, and there was this weight on my shoulder with this information that I had to go through this preventative double mastectomy. I was so scared to share it. My husband was and is so incredibly supportive. He was like, ‘Why don’t we look at the other side?’ And that was the turning point where I was like, yes, I can’t keep this [to myself]. Here I am, the editor-in-chief of probably one of the most important women’s magazines. I have to share this, not just with my friends and my colleagues, but with the entire audience that would listen to me.”

Dr. Comen speaks with Rebecca Porter.

Support is essential

Toks Olagundoye was sure she was going to be fired when she needed to have surgery early into her time working on the Paramount+ reboot of Frasier. She was assured by the Frasier showrunners that her job was safe, but, as she told her husband, Hollywood isn’t known for honesty. “Kelsey Grammer called me and I was like, ‘This is it. Getting fired right now.’ Instead, he was very emotional. He said, ‘I didn’t realize that you were going through this. I’m so sorry. We’re going to do whatever we need to for you to be okay. Your health is the most important [thing]. I know how actors think. I know you think you’re losing your job. You are not losing your job. This is your family.’ And he was true to his word.”

When Garcia had her mastectomy, one of the things that helped her the most was feeling the support of women that had endured something similar. “Doctors can tell you incredible details, but nothing compares to another woman, a friend, even a stranger walking you through,” she said. “All those women had prepared me, had walked me through it. I walked in there, and I knew what I was getting into, and I felt their love, and I felt they were with me. I was ready, and I was prepared, and it was all right, but it was all because I opened up and I shared that. It meant everything, and it opened up an entirely new community of women for me.”

Pink ribbon pins.

There are rare silver linings

Olagundoye is the oldest of four children and her husband, Sean Quinn, is the youngest of four children, which really impacts their dynamic as partners and co-parents. “When I got ill, he had to take over with everything,” she said. Then “about two weeks after I had my first surgery, he comes in the bedroom, and he’s like, ‘I just want to say thank you, because I didn’t realize how much you do. There’s been this amazing thing, where we are solidly equals now. We really, strongly work off of each other. I knew my husband loved me, but I didn’t realize how much.”

Adrienne Gaffney is a features editor at ELLE and previously worked at WSJ Magazine and Vanity Fair.