Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is “scared” to get a hysterectomy after being diagnosed with cervical cancer.
“When [my doctor] first said we have to do this or it’s gonna escalate to stage II — I know I’m done with kids, just knowing that you can’t, I don’t know, it made me feel like I’m not a mom,” Polizzi, 38, said during a Good Morning America interview, which aired on Thursday, April 23. “Even though I’m done.”
Polizzi revealed her diagnosis to fans via TikTok in February . She’s since become a major women’s health advocate, emphasizing the importance of annual Pap smears, which is how the cancerous cells in her cervix were initially discovered.
“I feel like I need to share it because nobody talks about [cervical cancer],” Polizzi told GMA’s Lara Spencer on Thursday, admitting she has some regrets about not prioritizing her gynecological health in the past.
“I just kept putting [appointments] off, I didn’t like it,” the Jersey Shore star explained. “Like, ‘Why were you so scared?’ Now we’re not putting off any more appointments.”
Polizzi was immediately fearful of her future after receiving her diagnosis. She was visibly emotional in her initial TikTok video, which was filmed in her car following her doctor’s appointment. Polizzi explained, however, that it wasn’t the “worst news” because the disease was caught early.
“I was terrified. I was hysterically crying in my car, like, ‘What am I gonna do? I have three kids. I gotta do my will,’” she recalled on Thursday. “I’m, like, thinking about all these things.”
The MTV star said her kids have asked if she’s “dying” after hearing the news.
“I’m like, ‘No, I’m not dying, I’m just sick. And I need to figure it out and then Mommy will be fine,’” she said. (Polizzi shares Lorenzo, 13, Giovanna, 11, and Angelo, 6, with husband Gianni LaValle.)
Polizzi also told Spencer that her Jersey Shore castmates were “freaking out” about her diagnosis.
“I consider them my brothers and sisters,” she said. “I feel like us as a cast, we always said we’ll continue filming until we’re in a nursing home.”
While the final season of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation is set to premiere next month, Polizzi teased that there’s more to come from the cast.
“It’s not over for us,” she said. “I’m so glad that [Jersey Shore] happened because I can’t picture my life as anything else.”
