Busy Philipps is opening up about her health after an exam found she had a brain tumor.
In a new interview, the Cougar Town alum revealed that after she got a full-body MRI, doctors discovered she had a malignant brain tumor that was later removed weeks before she started filming her new CBS series, Cupertino.
“I’m grateful that I’m alive,” Philipps told People, adding that it’s been “the weirdest six months of my life.”
The Freaks and Geeks alum said that doctors discovered a grade 2 oligodendroglioma, a rare and slow-growing primary brain tumor, when she got the scan done this past February. Philipps scheduled a surgery for March in which the tumor, which measured 2.6 centimeters, was removed and sent for further testing.
As Philipps got into the routine of her new job playing Natalia Boutella in the new CBS drama, she went to her dermatologist for Botox and noticed the incision from the surgery didn’t look right. Turns out the White Chicks alum had contracted staphylococcus and needed debridement surgery to treat the infection.
Although the infection was caught early on, Philipps didn’t feel too fortunate at the time, adding, “The second surgery really threw me. I just felt like I was back to square one, and I was really, really upset.”
Looking back on her health, Philipps does feel like the “luckiest girl in the world” for catching the tumor and infection early on before it became a bigger issue.
The lesson Philipps is taking from her experience is to gain knowledge and trust your instincts about your health.
“We are frequently told by doctors that there is nothing to worry about [when] you kind of know that there’s something to worry about,” she said. “There’s nothing to be afraid of in having information. It’s only empowering.”
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