Beloved Dawson’s Creek star, James Van Der Beek, 47, has opened up about his battle with colorectal cancer.
But as revealed by the actor shortly after the news broke, his diagnosis and its subsequent public airing, wasn’t something he was expecting to have to deal with at this point.
In an Instagram post shared alongside moving images of the actor and his children, James Van Der Beek wrote in response to the news:
“Each year, approximately 2 billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I’m one of them.”
“There’s no playbook for how 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. But that plan had to be altered early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid was going to run with the news.”
“It’s been quite the initiation, and I’ll tell you more when I’m ready.”
Before ending the caption with and apology to all his close friends and family that he’d planned on sharing the news with personally.
“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.”
Despite his diagnosis, the father of six has been busying himself with work, starring in Sidelined: The QB and Me, out at the end of November as well as a host of other television appearances and smaller roles.
The Dancing With The Stars alum, is also set to appear on The Real Full Monty – a two-hour charity special produced to raise awareness for prostate, testicular, and colorectal cancer testing and research.
Following the unplanned announcement, Van Der Beek confirmed the news with People.
“I have colorectal cancer. I’ve been privately dealing with this diagnosis and have been taking steps to resolve it, with the support of my incredible family,” the actor shared.
James Van Der Beek went on to say that, while his battle with the disease is still ongoing, he was in good spirits and attempting to remain positive.
“There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good.”
This article originally appeared on Marie Claire Australia and is republished here with permission.
