Actress Danielle Fishel is facing a health challenge and predicts she'll be “fine.”
“I was recently diagnosed with DCIS, a form of breast cancer,” the “Boy Meets World” alum, 43, said on her “Pod Meets World” podcast Monday. “It’s very, very, very early. Technically, it’s stage 0.”
Fishel learned about her DCIS (a cancer of the milk ducts of the breast) during a routine mammogram, something she urges other women not to skip.
“To be more specific, just because I like to always be full of information, I was diagnosed with ‘high-grade DCIS with microinvasion,’” she said. “And I’m going to be fine.”
According to the American Cancer Society, high-grade cancer is the type that grows the fastest, is more likely to come back after surgery, and is more likely to become invasive breast cancer. The term “invasive” refers to whether cancer cells have grown beyond the breast ducts or nearby lobules.
Fishel will have the cancer surgically removed and will then undergo follow-up treatments.
The actress, who played Topanga Lawrence on the 1990s sitcom, said she always thought she would “suffer in silence” if she received this kind of diagnosis until she was “on the other side” and then tell people. But she said she learned along the way that the biggest learning can come from the beginning or “a very messy part” of a story, compared to hearing only the “pretty picture” some people present when their struggles are over.
“The only reason I caught this cancer so early, when it was still stage 0, is because the day I got the text saying it was time for my annual mammogram, I made the appointment,” said Fishel, who reprised her role as Topanga in the sitcom “Girl Meets World,” a sequel to the 1990s original.
“And the fact that I'm good at going to my doctor's appointments, when the truth is that it would be so much easier, with how busy I am, with the 50 jobs I have, and the two kids, the husband and the house, it would be very easy to say, 'I don't have time for that. I went to my mammogram last year; last year I was fine. I don't need to go this year.'”
But he chose the path a little annoyed. “And they found him so, so, so early, I’m going to be fine.”
That said, she still has more things to do, such as meeting with oncologists and other specialists before making the “important decisions” she needs to make. Fishel noted that she might miss a few episodes of her podcast while she takes care of her business.
