Jung Ae-ri: "Ovarian cancer battle, hair falling out completely.. even shaved it in the bathroom" [Star Issue]

*This content was translated by AI.

Actress Jung Ae-ri recalled her difficult battle with ovarian cancer.

On the 9th, Jung Ae-ri appeared as a guest on the YouTube channel "Song Seung-hwan's Wonderful Life."

Jung Ae-ri revealed the process of discovering her ovarian cancer.

She said, "At that time, I was working on a drama and a play called 'My Mother-in-Law.' I was also doing dubbing and recording for another World Vision project, and when I was trying to read the recording script, I was in too much pain."

She continued, "During the performance of 'My Mother-in-Law,' I lost some weight and felt weak. I had a fever, so I thought it was just because I was tired. As an actress, I thought I could pull myself together once I stepped on stage. But when I got home, my stomach hurt so much I couldn't move."

Jung Ae-ri, who went to the hospital at the time, was diagnosed with peritonitis. She explained, "I had surgery 24 hours after it burst. I almost died. I was on the verge of sepsis. They said my abdomen was filled with pus."

Just as Jung Ae-ri was about to receive discharge instructions after her peritonitis surgery, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer cells. She revealed, "The doctor told me, 'You need to change departments.' He said to go to the 'Cancer Center Gynecology Department.' He told me that ovarian cancer cells had been found."

Recalling that time, she said, "I suddenly became an ovarian cancer patient." She added, "They told me that clear cell carcinoma is a particularly difficult type of ovarian cancer. During treatment, I decided to live as a good patient. I followed the doctor's instructions. I didn't want to learn more because the more I knew, the more scared I'd be."

She revealed that she underwent chemotherapy for several months. She said, "They told me that women with cancer always lose their hair. At that time, I had long hair. I thought losing long hair was okay, so I got a short haircut. After the first round of chemotherapy, my hair didn't fall out at all until the second round. I thought, 'Could this be a miracle for me?' But it didn't happen. Unlike what we expect, even with short hair, the feeling of hair falling out was completely different. It fell out completely and all at once."

She continued, "Even though my hair was short, I didn't want to face it falling out patchily. So, I called the stylist at the salon I was visiting and asked them to come to my house. I had them shave it all off right in my bathroom."

Jung Ae-ri also revealed, "Hair loss is due to chemotherapy weakening the peripheral nerves, causing the hair roots to fall out. Even my eyebrows fell out completely. So, I asked them to tattoo my eyebrows so only traces would remain."

She also mentioned that there were many other hardships caused by chemotherapy. She said, "I didn't lose my toenails or anything like that, but my feet had side effects. At night, when I tried to sleep, my feet were uncomfortable and painful. It felt like sand had been poured into them, or like my own foot skin had been placed inside. I couldn't describe how uncomfortable and painful it was."

Regarding her ovarian cancer surgery, she said, "They performed a very long open surgery. Since they didn't know where the clear cell carcinoma was, they had to examine everything thoroughly, which is why the surgery was so long." She added, "As a result, my back wouldn't straighten. The nurse told me it might not straighten easily, so I tried to walk back and forth in the hallway while forcing my back to straighten."

Jung Ae-ri confessed, "I didn't want to keep going to the hospital. But when they said, 'That's enough. You can be discharged. Take good care of yourself at home,' I started to feel fear. I thought, 'Do I have to do this alone?' and 'What should I do?'"

Meanwhile, Jung Ae-ri was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2016. She has since been cured and has recovered her health.

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*This content was translated by AI.