The Good News and The Bad News

The good news is that Christina Applegate, who announced earlier this month that she was battling breast cancer, has been diagnosed as 100% free and clear of the disease.  Which is excellent news for those of us who have followed her career straight from the "Married With Children" years through the rough days of "Jessie," the okay days of "Anchorman" and "Sweet Charity" and her return to the good times with "Samantha Who."

The bad news is that to avoid a recurrence of cancer, Applegate revealed to Good Morning America that she underwent a double mastectomy (you can almost hear the hearts of Kelly Bundy fans everywhere breaking).  While Applegate talked openly about the emotional rollarcoaster involved in making such a momentous decision, she credits her mother - who also underwent a mastectomy - as a source of strength through the ordeal.

"I watched her have a mastectomy, and then I watched her go through two years of chemotherapy and eight surgeries and a hysterectomy.  I've watched this woman survive both of those things, so for me there was always that sense that I was going to be okay, no matter what."

Applegate jokes about reconstructive surgery and the fact that she'll still have great boobs when she's 90.  With that positive outlook and a continued positive diagnosis, I hope it's much longer than that.