James Van Der Beek is opening up about his cancer diagnosis, days after revealing he was diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer.
The Dawson’s Creek star sat down for a new interview with People and discussed the journey he and his family have been on in the last year.
“What do you do when you’re staring down a Stage 3 diagnosis? This has been a crash course in [the] mastery of mind, body [and] spirit,” he said.
The 47-year-old recalled going in for a colonoscopy in August 2023 after experiencing some symptoms.
“The gastroenterologist said, in his most pleasant bedside manner, ‘It is cancer.’ And I think I went into shock,” Van Der Beek said.
Van Der Beek said he went in for additional scans, which confirmed he had Stage 3 cancer but also offered a bit of a silver lining.
“Found out it was still localized. It had not spread, but it was Stage 3, which is not what you want to hear,” he said.
Van Der Beek said his cancer diagnosis ushered in a new and unfamiliar chapter.
“And thus began, the full-time job of having cancer, signing up for all the various medical portals and getting on the phone with insurance and creating appointments … I was not prepared for just how much of a full-time job that it really is,” he continued.
Although the cancer news came as a shock, Van Der Beek said it was also a catalyst and motivating in a sense.
“I really didn’t feel like this was going to end me. I really felt like this is going to be the biggest life redirect,” he said. “I’m going to make changes that I never would have made otherwise, that I’m going to look back on in a year, five years, 30 years from now and say, ‘Thank God that happened.'”
Colorectal cancer begins in the colon or rectum, often referred to as colon or rectal cancer based on its location, according to the American Cancer Society, which added that most cases start as polyps — growths on the inner lining of these organs — that become more common with age. For that reason, regular screenings with colonoscopies can not only help detect colorectal cancer, but can help prevent it, too, since a polyp can take as many as 10 to 15 years to develop into cancer.
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