Musician Linda Perry says she had no symptoms and considered herself healthy when a routine breast reduction surgery accidentally uncovered a fast-moving, aggressive cancer.
The 4 Non Blondes singer and songwriter shared the story on a recent episode of the “Off The Record” podcast with Lisa Konicki, crediting “guardian angels” for surfacing a diagnosis she never would have gone looking for herself.
“That was just angels, you know, guardians, because I never do any of that stuff – mammograms. Nothing. No, I’m like I’m not going down that way. And if that’s where I go, then take me down. But I can’t stand the medical. … I’m not a fan. I don’t buy it,” Perry said.
Perry said she doesn’t smoke, drink alcohol or consume caffeine, and had long considered herself in good health. She had wanted a breast reduction for years but kept putting it off out of fear of anesthesia. When she finally scheduled the procedure, it changed everything.
“So, I go do the appointment,” she said. “We go to the recovery. You know, I stay at this place overnight. Totally, everything was fine. And then the doctor comes by, and she’s like, ‘Everything went great, you know, but … you have triple negative cancer, and we found it in your biopsy. It’s very early, but it’s there.'”
Doctors told Perry the cancer was “very, very fast” and “angry,” and laid out two paths forward: radiation and chemotherapy, or a double mastectomy. She didn’t hesitate.
“I was like, ‘No brainer. I’m halfway there. Take them.’ I didn’t even think about it. I was just like, ‘Pop them off. I’m good. When can we go?'” Perry said.
Perry underwent the double mastectomy in January 2022 and has been healthy since.
At the time of her diagnosis, Perry’s mother, Marluce Martins Perry, was sick, and Perry said she likely would have chalked up any symptoms of her own to stress rather than illness, meaning she never would have sought a breast exam on her own.
“So, angels, angels all around me. My whole life,” she said, reflecting on how the cancer was caught so early despite her avoidance of routine medical screening.
