Justin Long Opens Up About His Mom’s Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis: ‘We Were All Terrified’

Justin Long is reflecting on his mother Wendy's battle with ovarian cancer.  

In a new interview with SurvivorNet, the actor — who was 28 when his mother received her diagnosis in 2006 — opened up about the "scary" experience, sharing that doctors initially misdiagnosed her.

"They thought for years that she just had fibroids that had become enlarged. I think that's what they kept just diagnosing it as, and so they would keep an eye on it," Long, now 42, recalled. 

However, as "that area started to become distended" Long said that "finally, somebody investigated enough to discover that it was, in fact, a tumor." 

"We were all terrified," he said of his family.

Fortunately, although the tumor was "grapefruit size" by the time doctors found it, it hadn't metastasized.

Long went on to recall that although his mother lost her hair while going through six months of chemotherapy, she never seemed to let the treatment affect her emotionally. 

"It struck me that she didn't seem to really worry about herself during that time. I'm sure she was, but she played it very cool. If she was [worried], she didn't really let us know," he said. 

"I was really proud of her and struck by that," he continued, later adding, "There were moments where she'd feel a little bit more rundown, but otherwise, my mom's very plucky and bubbly."

Due to work commitments, Long couldn't be home as much as he liked, but he he did help raise money for the Yale New Haven Hospital, where his mother received her treatment. 

"I had to make up for not being there for part of the time," he said. "It was nice to be a part of the fundraising efforts."

Although it was a difficult time for his family, Long said that his mother's diagnosis brought "everyone closer" and gave him a different perspective on life. 

"I think it made me so much more appreciative for the time that we have left and the want to make more out of it," he shared.

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