Jane Fonda Reveals Cancer Diagnosis, Beginning Treatment

Jane Fonda took to Instagram on Friday to reveal she has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and has started chemo treatments. According to her comments, the cancer is treatable and has a high survival rate, but it’s a moment to take pause for many who are either nearing old age or have experienced cancer battles.

“This is a very treatable cancer. 80% of people survive, so I feel very lucky,” the Barbarella star wrote in the caption of her photo. “I’m also lucky because I have health insurance and access to the best doctors and treatments. I realize, and it’s painful, that I am privileged in this. 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.”

Fonda used her personal moment to raise awareness and elevate issues we all deal with daily, adding that we should work on eliminating the causes of cancer while also looking for the elusive cure. “We also need to be talking much more not just about cures but about causes so we can eliminate them,” she added. “For example, people need to know that fossil fuels cause cancer. So do pesticides, many of which are fossil fuel-based, like mine.”

As she stresses to close her message, Fonda says she won’t let cancer sideline her during what she calls “the most consequential time in human history.” “[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, using every tool in my toolbox and that very much includes continuing to build this Fire Drill Fridays community and finding new ways to use our collective strength to make change,” she writes.

The Oscar-winner also shed light on her treatments and how she’s learning as she goes with the disease. “I’m doing chemo for 6 months and am handling the treatments quite well and, believe me, I will not let any of this interfere with my climate activism,” Fonda adds. “Cancer is a teacher and I’m paying attention to the lessons it holds for me. One thing it’s shown me already is the importance of community. Of growing and deepening one’s community so that we are not alone. And the cancer, along with my age –almost 85– definitely teaches the importance of adapting to new realities.”

Cancer is certainly one new reality, much like the world she’s advocating for with her activism. All the best on her treatments and recovery, hopefully things turn out the best for everybody.