Lucy said she received an email from BreastScreen Australia about three weeks ago informing her that her mammogram result was 'a bit weird'. 'Long story short, I've got breast cancer,' she said.
She underwent a lumpectomy last Friday, during which a doctor she calls Dr Fun discovered additional cancer. 'Dr Fun is amazing. I am in her debt, but we have gone from a lumpectomy to a mastectomy, which I am having Friday week,' Lucy said.
Despite only one breast being affected, Lucy decided to have both removed. 'I said, while you're there, let's get rid of the other one because, you know something, I have had 40 years of, if I do say so myself, large and spectacular breasts. You had your chance, fellas,' she joked. 'I think I'm quite fine with going bra-free for my last chapter, and my last chapter is going to be very long and healthy.'
Lucy described the cancer as 'relatively non-aggressive' and praised her medical team for catching it early.
The announcement comes shortly after the release of Lucy's latest book, Well Well Well: My Wellness Odyssey from Psychics to Psychedelics and Beyond, which explores her lifelong interest in wellness. She acknowledged the irony of releasing a book about wellness while being treated for cancer. 'There's nothing like releasing a book about wellness as you're being diagnosed with breast cancer,' she said. 'Fortunately, the book does not end with me going, "And I've never been healthier!" In fact, kind of the point of the book is that there are no quick fixes, and we should all just be living differently.'
Lucy has been open about previous health battles, including undergoing faecal microbiota transplants after contracting a virus during an ayahuasca retreat in the Amazon.
The comedian, who rose to fame in the late 1980s and has been a regular on ABC's The Weekly With Charlie Pickering since 2019, said she is in shock but doing okay. Fellow comedians have rallied around her online. Celia Pacquola called her 'the most spectacular woman', Geraldine Hickey joked 'It'll be a weight off your chest!', and Dave Hughes praised her for making everything funny.