James Van Der Beek is opening up more about his cancer.
On Sunday, the Dawson’s Creek alum shocked fans after revealing a colorectal cancer diagnosis. He told People he’s been “privately dealing with this diagnosis and [has] been taking steps to resolve it.” The 47-year-old noted there’s “reason for optimism” and that he’s “feeling good,” but didn’t share anything else in terms of how long he’s been battling the disease, what stage it’s in, or what he means by “there’s reason for optimism.” But he’s since revealed that sharing the news in this way wasn’t his plan… But he was forced to.
Hours after going public with the news through People, James took to Instagram to talk more about it:
“‘It is cancer…’ Each year, approximately 2 billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I’m one of them. There’s no playbook for how [to] announce these things, but I’d planned on talking about it at length with People magazine at some point soon… to raise awareness and tell my story on my own terms.”
However, that plan was unfortunately derailed when he was informed that his deeply personal news was going to leak. He wrote:
“But that plan had to be altered early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid was going to run with the news. I’ve been dealing with this privately until now, getting treatment and dialing in my overall health with greater focus than ever before. I’m in a good place and feeling strong. It’s been quite the initiation, and I’ll tell you more when I’m ready.”
How awful! Poor James. It already must be so tough to navigate his diagnosis, but adding this stress on top of it all must have been just so hard…
Related: ’90s MTV Star Chose Alternative Medicine Over Double Mastectomy — Now Her Cancer Is Stage 4
The One Tree Hill star concluded by apologizing to loved ones who had to learn about the news online due to the unfortunate way he was forced to go public with the news on an accelerated timeline:
“Apologies to all the people in my life who I’d planned on telling myself. Nothing about this process has occurred on my preferred timeline… But we roll with it, taking each surprise as a signpost, pointing us toward a greater destiny than we would have discovered without divine intervention. Please know that my family and I deeply appreciate all the love and support. More to come…”
See his full post (below):
James got a ton of support in the comments, including from his wife Kimberly, whom he shares six children with. She affectionately wrote:
“I love you baby”
So sweet. We’re glad James has so much support. We’re sending healing energy his way and wishing him all the privacy in the world as he continues to battle the disease!
[Images via James Van Der Beek/Instagram]
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