Boy Meets World alum Danielle Fishel is opening up about her breast cancer diagnosis.
In a new interview with TODAY, published on Oct. 15, the 43-year-old revealed that she has undergone two lumpectomy surgeries in the months since announcing her diagnosis.
“There is no evidence of disease, so the surgery was successful and got the cancer out of my body,” she said, adding that she’ll be starting a hormone therapy pill soon and could be asked to undergo radiation.
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“But they call cancer a journey for a reason. It’s not just walk in and have even one procedure and then you’re done,” she continued. Doctors will continue to monitor her with regular mammograms and MRIs.
Fishel confirmed her diagnosis during an episode of her Pod Meets World podcast on Aug. 19. At the time, she revealed that she was diagnosed with stage 0 ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, DCIS is “a condition that affects the cells of the milk ducts in the breast.” The condition doesn’t usually cause symptoms, but can show up on a mammogram.
Fishel stresses the importance of annual mammograms
When Fishel first revealed the diagnosis, she expressed her gratitude for catching the cancer “very, very, very early.” She echoed that sentiment in her interview with TODAY, nearly two months later.
“I was so lucky that I found my cancer so early because I went and had my annual mammogram on time,” she said. “I was thinking like, ‘Great. I caught it early. I can be done with this soon.’”
But she’s quickly realizing that there “really is no ‘done with it.’”
Now, she’s urging other women to schedule their annual health screenings, especially those who have been putting it off for long enough.
“When I came forward with my news, friends wrote to me and said, ‘I’ve been putting it off for two years,’ or, ‘I’ve been putting mine off since the pandemic,’ or, ‘My mom’s been putting hers off,’” she said.
According to Fishel, those friends scheduled their annual mammograms right away.
And while she doesn’t consider herself an influencer, she does have one piece of advice for anyone listening: “Preventative care makes a really big difference in your health outcomes.”
Fishel describes revealing the news to her family
One of the hardest things Fishel had to do after receiving her diagnosis was break the news to her husband, Jensen Karp, who was “really very confident it was going to be benign,” she says.
It was also a sensitive subject for him because both of his parents died from lung cancer.
“So when I got the phone call with the results from the biopsy, my first thought was, ‘How am I going to break this news to him?’” she added.
Fishel eventually revealed the news to her husband. But while her parents came next, she admits she has yet to tell her two children, only telling them that she was going through surgery and will have a “boo-boo.”
Fishel shares two sons, Adler, 5, and Keaton, 3, with Karp. The couple tied the knot in 2018, one year before Adler was born.
“And it means … I’m not going to be able to wrestle with you or pick you up or swing you around, and you’re going to have to hug me a little gently,’” she recalled of her discussion with her children.
Towards the end of her interview, Fishel described the “cancer community” as “one of the warmest, just most loving, embracing community” and thanked her family, friends, fans, and followers for their support.
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“The support network of people that I had, the amount of people who sent my family food, who sent us care packages, who know how much I like sweets, and sent me cookies, every single one of those helped me stay very grounded and very present and very grateful,” she said.
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