She may be best known as the spunky babysitter on the hit TV series The Nanny, but today Fran Drescher is using her signature voice to speak up about something near and dear to her heart: cancer prevention.
Drescher was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2000 at the age of 42 and was forced to undergo an immediate radical hysterectomy to fight the disease. Two years later, after being given a clean bill of health from her doctors, Drescher wrote her second book, CancerSchmancer, to tell her story of survival and educate others about the illness. "I've managed to figure out how to make sense of it all by turning pain into purpose by sharing it with the world," she says.
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Her book was just the beginning. As the popularity of CancerSchmancer grew, Drescher realized a need for improvement in women's health care in America and started the Cancer Schmancer Movement and Cancer Schmancer Foundation, dedicated to early detection and prevention of cancer through healthy eating, exercise, and a toxin-free household.
As for Drescher herself—she practices what she preaches. One of her main focuses on achieving a healthy lifestyle is starting at the most basic level: your house. "The home is the most toxic place we spend the most time in, and ironically, you have the most control over it," she says. That's where her Detox Your Home parties come into play, where, instead of gathering to sell jewelry or makeup, women gather to share Drescher's tips and tricks about cleaner food, personal care items, and household products. (Take a look at 5 painless ways to detox your home.)
