4 weeks ago
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"It's not fun, but it is what it is. And with all that said, I'm very fortunate and I'm going to live, which is the most important thing."
During the Aug. 19 episode of the podcast Pod Meets World, Danielle Fishel announced that she had been diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
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According to the Mayo Clinic, in DCIS, the cancer cells "are confined inside a milk duct" and have not spread to the breast tissue. If left untreated, DCIS can turn into invasive breast cancer and spread to other areas of the body.
“I was recently diagnosed with DCIS, which stands for ductal carcinoma in situ, which is a form of breast cancer,” she said during the episode. “It is very, very, very early. It’s technically stage zero."
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And last night, she made her first major public appearance since her announcement. She attended the premiere of the series Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, a show that she's directed several episodes of.
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"It's like, 'Wow. Even for cancer that was found at stage 0, my whole life has changed,'" she told People during a red carpet interview.
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"My life has become many doctor's appointments and constantly checking up. And it'll be monitoring side effects," she added. "It's not fun, but it is what it is. And with all that said, I'm very fortunate and I'm going to live, which is the most important thing."
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"It does hit me still all the time," she said. "Because I remember very early on when I was diagnosed ... someone said to me, 'I just want you to know, I'm so happy you found your cancer early. But there is no such thing as easy cancer.' "
"At the time," she continued, "before I'd had surgery or done anything, I thought, 'Well, I don't really know what that means but I'll remember it.' Sure enough, even having stage 0 cancer, I had to have two surgeries." She added that she will also be going in for radiation therapy. saying it was "going to be in 20 days, five days a week for four weeks straight."
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"And then I will also need to go on a hormone therapy. I'm going to have to be on an estrogen blocker for at least five years," she said.
Danielle explained that she even debated skipping the event because of her visible scars. "I was back and forth," she said. "I obviously wanted to come tonight because I absolutely love this show. I'm so honored to have been able to direct a couple of episodes of it. And at the same time, everything I wanted to put on, I was like, 'I can see my scars in that. Oh, I can see my scars in that.'"
"And then, I was like, 'Why am I going to let that be a factor in deciding to live my life?'" she explained. "I got dressed and I had my makeup artist do her magic and I feel fine. And I'm happy to be here."
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