Busy Philipps is sharing new details about a terrifying health scare that led to the “weirdest six months” of her life. 

The actress recently revealed that she underwent two surgeries earlier this year after doctors discovered a rare, slow-growing brain tumor. While she’s now safely on the other side of the procedures and feels “grateful” to be alive, she admits she came very close to skipping the appointment that caught the mass. 

A Life-Saving Push 

Philipps told People that she’d been curious about getting a full-body Prenuvo MRI scan after seeing it on Instagram, even though her primary care doctor said it wasn’t necessary since she was young, healthy, and her annual labs were normal. Going with her gut instinct, Philipps booked the appointment anyway. 


The morning of her scan, she was processing a devastating loss. Her close friend and former Dawson’s Creek costar, James Van Der Beek, had died of colon cancer just one day prior. Overwhelmed by grief and a packed schedule, she reached out to her ex-husband, Marc Silverstein, asking if she should just cancel the scan.

Silverstein stepped in with the advice she needed: “He’s like, ‘Maybe it’s the best thing you could do for your friend this morning. Go get that scan,’” she said.

What’s an Oligodendroglioma? 

The scan showed a 2.6-centimeter lesion on her brain, which was later confirmed to be a grade 2 oligodendroglioma. According to The Brain Tumour Charity, this specific condition is a rare type of primary brain tumor that develops from glial cells. 

These tumors make up roughly 3% of all primary brain tumors and are most common in adults aged 30 to 50. Grade 2 tumors, like Philipps had, grow slowly, but they’re often described as “diffuse,” meaning they can grow into surrounding brain tissue. 

Moving Forward 

On March 2, the actress underwent a five-hour surgery to have the tumor removed. Though she later needed a second procedure to clear a staphylococcus infection at the incision site, she healed well and is now back to work. 

“The second surgery really threw me,” she told People. “I just felt like I was back to square one, and I was really, really upset.” 

Despite the scary setback, Philipps is choosing to focus on the positive. She feels like the “luckiest girl in the world” to have caught the tumor early, and she hopes her story encourages others to be proactive about their 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.” 



Source link