Alison Hall, Olivia Munn
Courtesy of Alison Hall/Instagram; Cindy Ord/Getty ImagesA journalist credits the actress Olivia Munn for saving his life.
Inside edition’s Alison Hall shared an emotional post via Instagram on Wednesday, January 8, announcing that she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and was preparing to undergo a mastectomy.
“Let me tell you how Olivia Munn and the show I work on, Inside editionplayed a role in saving my life,” Hall, 33, wrote in the post’s moving caption. “Last spring, after @oliviamunn shared her story about her breast cancer journey, the producers of @insideedition gave me the story and sent me to a breast cancer doctor here in New York to undergo testing, on camera Inspired by Olivia, I took the breast cancer risk assessment test.
According to Hall, her risk “proved to be high,” which is why the “wonderful doctors” at New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital “encouraged me to begin a yearly schedule of mammograms and MRIs.”
“I had been ready to do this for a long time and had no idea how quickly this story would change my life,” she continued. “In October I had my first breast MRI and a week later, just before I turned 33, I became one of millions of women to hear the words ‘you have breast cancer.’
Hall said doctors also told him his cancer was “stage zero,” meaning it “hasn’t spread.”
“I have an early form of malignancy called DCIS,” she added. According to Johns Hopkins, DCIS – or ductal carcinoma in situ – is a “non-invasive form of breast cancer that develops in the milk ducts of the breast.”
“As you can imagine, I’ve been through a roller coaster of fear, anxiety, dread AND gratitude,” she continued in Wednesday’s post. “My husband reminds me that this is “the best and bad news” we could have received. For many reasons, including my family history of breast cancer and my own history of breast abnormalities, I decided to not only tackle the current cancer head on, but also to significantly reduce my risk of future breast cancer . I have chosen to have a double mastectomy with reconstruction next week.
Munn, 44, revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2024.
“Surprisingly, I only cried twice,” Munn wrote in a lengthy Instagram post detailing her diagnosis and subsequent treatment, which also included a double mastectomy. “I guess I didn’t feel like it was time to cry. My focus narrowed and I reported any emotions that I thought might interfere with my ability to remain lucid,” she wrote at the time.
In her Instagram post on Wednesday, Hall said she considered “this experience a gift,” adding that her diagnosis allows her to “do this for my future self, for my future children.”
“I have some of the best family, friends, dogs, therapists, doctors and colleagues in the world who have shown up for me and given me more love than I could imagine,” she added. “I believe in the power of storytelling. Olivia Munn sharing her story saved lives. It certainly helped save mine. I share my story with the same hope.
