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“Boy Meets World” star Danielle Fishel revealed Monday she has been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.
“I was recently diagnosed with DCIS, which stands for ductal carcinoma in situ, which is a form of breast cancer,” she said at the top of the latest episode of her “Pod Meets World” podcast. “It is very, very, very early. It’s technically stage zero.”
“I’m going to be fine. I’m having surgery to remove it. I’m going to be on some follow-up treatment,” added Fishel, who played Topanga Lawrence on the popular ’90s sitcom.
DCIS is an early, noninvasive form of breast cancer that affects the cells of the milk ducts in the breast, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. It can show up on a mammogram but typically does not cause symptoms.
Patients who seek timely treatment and diagnosis have excellent prognoses. However, if left untreated, the cancer can become invasive and spread elsewhere in the body.
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Fishel, 43, told listeners she had originally wanted to tell only a select few people about her diagnosis. On reflection, though, she realized how much there is to be gained when cancer patients and survivors share their experiences.
“The only reason I caught this cancer when it is still stage zero is because the day I got my text message that my yearly mammogram had come up, I made the appointment,” she said, noting that as a working mom of two, “it would be so easy to say, ‘I don’t have time for that. I went to my mammogram last year. I was fine last year. I don’t need to go.’”
“I want to share this because I hope that it will encourage anyone to get in there if it’s time for your appointment,” she added. “If you’ve never had an appointment before, get in there.”
Fishel said she still has some big decisions to make.
“I still have doctors I need to meet with ― oncologists, radiation specialists, hormone therapists, all kinds of stuff that I have still in front of me to decide,” she said, letting listeners know that she still plans to be a part of every podcast episode if she can.
Her friends and co-hosts, fellow “Boy Meets World” actors Will Friedle and Rider Strong ― who she said were two of the first to know about the cancer ― said they will support and accommodate Fishel however she needs.