Fans are currently expressing their love and support for Jane Fonda who just announced her cancer diagnosis.
On Friday, the 84-year-old actor told her Instagram followers that she’s been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and has started chemotherapy. She shared that it’s a “very treatable cancer” and that “80 per cent” of people survive it, before acknowledging how “privileged” she is to have her health insurance and doctors.
“I realise, and it’s painful, that I am privileged in this,” she wrote in the caption. “Almost every family in America has had to deal with cancer at one time or another and far too many don’t have access to the quality health care I am receiving and this is not right.”
After revealing that fossil-fuels, specifically pesticides, was one of the causes of her cancer, the Grace and Frankie star opened up about her treatment process and how she won’t let it affect her everyday life.
“I’m doing chemo for six months and am handling the treatments quite well and, believe me, I will not let any of this interfere with my climate activism,” she continued.
In the comments of her post, multiple fans sent her words of encouragement throughout her cancer battle.
“Stay fighting. You are an inspiration to many!,” one wrote, while another said: “Love you. You have always been the best fighter. You inspire me and I wish you the very best.”
A third person wrote: “Sending up prayers and sending healing vibes and love!...You are an amazing woman!”
On Twitter, multiple fans praised Fonda for sharing her thoughts about health care and climate change such a personal post.
“Even in a post where she’s sharing her cancer diagnosis, she’s talking about activism & helping others,” one wrote. “I love this woman more than anything.”
“Jane Fonda announcing she has cancer and still taking the time to acknowledge inequity in healthcare and the importance of the elections. Truly an icon.” another added.
Other people detailed how emotional they were when they heard Book Club star’s news, one of which tweeted: “Did not expect to open instagram and see jane fonda’s post where she said she has cancer…I wanna cry so bad right now bye.”
Elsewhere in her post, Fonda said she’s learned many “lessons” from cancer, such as the importance of “growing and deepening one’s community so that we are not alone”. After noting that people are constantly “adapting to new realities,” she highlighted how unpredictable the future can be.
“We’re living through the most consequential time in human history because what we do or don’t do right now will determine what kind of future there will be and I will not allow cancer to keep me from doing all I can”.
Fonda, who has been a vocal climate change activist, concluded her post by shining a light on the “consequential” US presidential midterms.
“You can count on me to be right there together with you as we grow our army of climate champions,” she wrote.
As noted by the Mayo Clinic, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma “begins in your lymphatic system, which is part of the body’s germ-fighting immune system”. The overall percentage of people who live for at least five years after the cancer is found is 73 per cent, per cancer.net.
This isn’t Fonda’s first time opening up about her past with cancer. In 2019, she told British Vogue that she “had a lot of cancer” and revealed that she would “frequently go to [her] skin doctor and have things cut off [her] by a surgeon”. During an interview with Howard Stern in 2018, she also said that she “just had cancer taken from [her] lip”, at the time.
