Crises bring change. Unbidden change is advantageous to the strong. And if those changed are -- or become -- compassionate and wise, what has been learned will be shared.
Jill Eikenberry had finished her second year as an anthropology student at Barnard College when she changed direction and auditioned for the Yale School of Drama. She was accepted and became an actor. In 1970, she began performing at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. She fell in love with Michael Tucker. They moved to New York City to work together in a Broadway show. Two years later, they were married.
In 1981, Eikenberry was Dudley Moore's jilted fiancée in Arthur. She won an Obie for her performance in the Broadway play Lemon Sky. She had become a popular success, working steadily in theater, television and film. Tucker's career had also taken off. They bought a house in the country. Their son Max was born.
A good friend brought change to the lives of the busy young actors in the summer of 1984. He was television producer Stephen Bochco and cast Eikenberry and Tucker in two episodes of his hit drama "Hill Street Blues". This on-screen pairing was the germ of the idea for "LA Law" -- which began filming in 1986
Just before moving to Los Angeles to begin shooting, Eikenberry's crisis began. While driving, she casually reached up and felt her breast. This was her first and very informal breast self-exam. She'd never had a mammogram. She felt a lump. Her doctor confirmed breast cancer.
"I was not informed," she later told Alternative Medicine Digest, "and was terrified and didn't know what to do." The first doctor advised her to have a mastectomy. "That's what he did the most frequently, so I said okay, take it off -- whatever you have to do. I simply did not know anybody who had survived breast cancer. I also didn't have the courage to ask the right questions."
Shortly after this diagnosis, at a screening of her recent film, a young woman from the cast, sensing something wrong asked her what had happened. Forgetting her resolve to keep her condition secret -- could it damage her career? -- she told her co-actor everything.
Minutes later after hearing her story, the mother of this thoughtful friend, took Eikenberry into the ladies' room. The mother lifted her blouse and showed her a small scar on her right breast. It was all she had to remind her of her breast cancer of eleven years before. "It was the first time it occurred to me that I might survive," Eikenberry said. It enabled her to find the courage to get a second opinion. Lumpectomy and radiation therapies were recommended. Her breast was saved.
Less than three months later LA Law began shooting. Their show was a hit, but Eikenberry and Tucker were gripped with fear. Would breast cancer be their undoing?
For two years, only their boss and friend, Steven Bochco, knew. He tailored Eikenberry's shooting schedule to accommodate her radiation. She didn't want to be "the actress with breast cancer." She suffered silently. She and Tucker had yet to learn that emotional support is critical to recovery. Their crisis was internalized.
The beginning of the end of their denial came in 1989. Eikenberry co-produced and hosted a NBC documentary, Destined to Live. It featured interviews with cancer survivors, including First Lady Nancy Reagan. "We made the documentary to show women with breast cancer that they are not alone," Eikenberry explains.
She had faced her crisis and changed her life. It was the face-to-face confrontation with her mortality, her fear that she could die from breast cancer, that brought Eikenberry not only to make major changes in her life, but to share the results.
"Having breast cancer absolutely was a catalyst for me...to get onto a new path. The wonderful thing about interviewing the women was that we saw how many of them felt that, ultimately, the cancer experience had been a wakeup call that they had used it to turn their lives around and start doing what they really wanted to. Breast cancer survivors are wonderful to speak to because they've seen their mortality and are so open to change."
Jill Eikenberry often partnered by her husband, is now a breast cancer activist. Their efforts have been extensively recognized with awards and commendations. They are the official spokespersons for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, a national organization dedicated to the advancement of breast cancer education, research and treatment.
Eikenberry has discovered that through sharing her experiences and being an exponent of constantly improving health, that life can be vibrant and full of self- discovery. "I've never felt better in my life than now. I have enormous vitality and joy, every day."
She was installed into the Cancer Survivors Hall of Fame on Wednesday, October 21 at a luncheon at Le Cirque 2000 in New York City.
