‘7th Heaven’ Alum Reflects on Colon Cancer Scare

7th Heaven alum Beverley Mitchell is reflecting on the colon cancer scare she experienced in her early 30s.

In an Instagram post over the weekend, the now 45-year-old actress opened up about getting a colonoscopy.

“I am sharing this because I think that there’s a lot of people that are freaked out by it or embarrassed,” she said about the procedure. “I have no shame.”

Mitchell then spoke about her health scare. “I had seen a doctor who looked at my blood work and was like, ‘Hey, I’m not saying anything, but it looks like you have markers that are similar to those that have colon cancer.”

She decided to see a gastroenterologist to have a colonoscopy. He agreed with her. “Come to find out, I had the biggest precancerous polyp he has ever seen in a young woman.”

Mitchell further stated that she “pretty much saved [her] own life” by advocating to have a procedure done.

“I followed up, three years later [and] had another colonoscopy. It was perfectly clean,” she shared. “Then, I was bad. It has been eight years since my last colonoscopy. I was supposed to be on the regimen every three years. It’s been eight. I was well overdue.”

Mitchell said she saw various “signs” that led her to schedule a doctor’s appointment for the procedure. Among the “signs” was the death of former child actor James Van Der Beek. The late actor died last month after battling stage 3 colorectal cancer.

“Listen, if we get screened, and if we go and get our colonoscopies and we pay attention, we can catch things early,” she continued. “I am happy to report that my colonoscopy came back perfectly clean, so now I’m on the five-year cycle [and] I’m no longer high-risk.”

The actress stressed the importance of getting the procedure done. “Putting it off isn’t going to make the situation any better, it’s going to make it worse,” she added. “This is my PSA that if you’ve been putting off your colonoscopy, go and get it now.”