Busy Philipps is celebrating a positive milestone on her cancer journey.
Taking to her Instagram account on Thursday, September 3, the Dawson’s Creek alum, 47, revealed it had been six months since her successful brain surgery.
“YESTERDAY WAS 6 MONTHS SINCE MY BRAIN SURGERY REMOVED THAT TUMOR FROM MY BRAIN! 🧠 🎉🙌” she wrote alongside a carousel of images, including a selfie that showed her sticking her tongue out.
Another photo showed Philipps in what appeared to be a hospital gown as she took a mirror selfie. She further revealed in the caption, “Well guess what? my mammogram was all clear too! woo!”
In an interview with People published on August 26, Philipps shared that she was “grateful” to be alive after her health diagnosis.
The actress explained that a Prenuvo full-body scan in February confirmed the presence of a grade 2 oligodendroglioma, a rare slow-growing tumor.
Busy Philipps. (Photo courtesy of Busy Philipps/Instagram)
Philipps added that she almost skipped her appointment to undergo the scan as she didn’t have any obvious symptoms and the consultation was scheduled to take place just one day after her former Dawson’s Creek costar, James Van Der Beek, died from stage III colorectal cancer.
“‘Should I cancel it?’” Philipps recalled asking her ex-husband, Marc Silverstein, who responded, “Maybe it’s the best thing you could do for your friend this morning. Go get that scan.”
After the scan confirmed a tumor had been detected, Philipps underwent a procedure in March so doctors could remove a 2.6-centimeter mass from her brain.
James Van Der Beek’s widow, Kimberly Van Der Beek, is sharing a message of support after his former Dawson’s Creek costar Busy Philipps shared her brain tumor diagnosis. “We love you @busyphilipps and you got angels in heaven. ❤️,” Kimberly, 44, commented on People’s Wednesday, August 26, Instagram post from the outlet’s interview with Philipps, […]
Philipps’ procedure was successful, and she told the outlet that she “wasn’t in pain at all.” However, she faced a setback in April when she contracted staphylococcus on her incision and needed a follow-up surgery to debride and clear the wound.
In the People interview, Philipps shared the impact her cancer diagnosis had on her two daughters, Birdie, 17, and Cricket, 13, whom she shares with Silverstein, 55.
“[Birdie] was kind of beside herself and really, really scared and overwhelmed with emotion,” Philipps said. “I just kept saying to her, ‘Birdie, you’re just not in the movie where your mom dies your senior year of high school. That’s just not the movie that you’re in. I promise you.’”
The actress said Cricket processed the news in a calmer way than her eldest child.
‘OK. You’re going to be fine?’ And I was like, ‘I’m totally going to be fine,’” Philipps said. “And she’s like, ‘OK.’”
