Linda Perry had double mastectomy amid secret, 'stressful' breast cancer battle

Linda Perry is revealing her double mastectomy after a "stressful," secret battle with triple-negative breast cancer.

The rock legend, who originally believed her symptoms were due to stress from caring for her ill mom, talked to People magazine about finding out she had breast cancer during an elective breast reduction surgery in 2021.

"My doctor basically said the cancer that I had was the kind that she finds in people where they have six months to maybe two years to live," Perry told People.

“And I would've never found it, and I would've never done anything about it when I started feeling off, because I would've thought it was because of my mom and the stressful situation I was under," she continued.

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What is triple-negative breast cancer?

Following breast reduction surgery, tissue is typically submitted for routine pathology evaluation which is where doctors discovered that Perry's breast had developed triple-negative cancer.

According to Mayo Clinic, triple-negative breast cancer "grows rapidly, is more likely to spread beyond the breast before diagnosis and is more likely to recur than other breast cancers."

She told People she was confident that it would have been too late had she not underwent the elective breast surgery.

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Linda Perry calls double mastectomy a 'no-brainer'

After discussing options with her doctor including radiation or a double mastectomy, Perry though a double mastectomy was "no-brainer," adding that now she want "to be the best at who I am and that takes a lot of pressure off" after her health struggles.

The rocker, who fronted the '90s band 4 Non Blondes, also divulged the information in her new Don Hardy-directed documentary "Linda Perry: Let It Die Here," which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on Thursday.

"This happened in real time. I remember calling Don (Hardy) and going, 'You're not going to believe this,'" she said of including her health journey in the documentary. "And he's like, 'Well, do you want to talk about it?' And I'm like, 'Well, we’re in it. Let's just do it.'"

Perry shares 9-year-old child Rhodes with her ex-wife, "Roseanne" alum Sara Gilbert. In December 2019, Gilbert filed court documents in Los Angeles to separate from Perry and the pair's divorce was finalized in 2021.

Contributing: Cydney Henderson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Linda Perry had double mastectomy during secret breast cancer battle