'Boy Meets World' Star Danielle Fishel Reveals Cancer Diagnosis
Boy Meets World star Danielle Fishel revealed on the Pod Meets World rewatch podcast that she hosts with her former costars Rider Strong and Will Friedle that she's been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. The 43-year-old said that although she initially considered keeping her diagnosis to herself, she ultimately decided to share it in such a public forum in hopes that her story might touch others.
"So I would like to share something with our listeners, something that Rider and Will were two of the first people I told the news to," Fishel said at the beginning on Monday's new episode. "I was recently diagnosed with DCIS, which stands for ductal carcinoma in situ, which is a form of breast cancer. It is very, very, very early. It’s technically stage zero. To be specific, just because I like too much information all the time, I was diagnosed with high-grade DCIS with micro-invasion."
"And I’m going to be fine. I’m having surgery to remove it," she reassured her listeners. "I’m going to be on some follow-up treatment. I’ve had to make a lot of decisions over the last couple of days."
DCIS refers to an early form of breast cancer in which the cancer cells are confined inside a milk duct in the breast, but haven't yet spread into the breast tissue. The Mayo Clinic notes that it has a low risk of spreading or becoming life-threatening, but does require evaluation and treatment.
Fishel noted that the reason she decided to share her diagnosis was in the event that someone else might wonder what they would do in a similar situation. She also hoped for the possibility that others could learn from her journey and be inspired to undergo cancer screening themselves.
"The only reason I caught this cancer when it is still stage zero is because the day I got my text message that my yearly mammogram had come up, I made the appointment," Fishel continued. "And the fact that I am good about going to my doctor's appointments, when truthfully, it would be so much easier, with as busy as I am, it would be so easy to say, 'I don't have time for that. I went to my mammogram last year, I was fine last year, I don't need to go again this year.'"
"And I didn't. Instead, I was like, 'It's time, gotta make that appointment,'" The Dish host stressed. "And they found it so, so, so early that I’m going to be fine. And so, I want to share this because I hope it will encourage anyone to get in there."
Fishel pointed out that if you have to find out you have cancer, that it's best to find out at stage zero, if possible.
"And so I have some big decisions ahead of me about what I want to do for treatment. I don’t have all the answers yet—I still have doctors I need to meet with, oncologists, radiation specialists, hormone therapists," she concluded. "But I did want to let our dear listeners know, because we’re going to try and have it not affect things, but there are possibilities we may have to put things on hold depending on what treatments I go through."
Strong and Friedle likewise chimed in that cancer screenings aren't just for breast cancer, and that it's also important for men to undergo prostrate exams and colonoscopies. So for anyone putting off their own cancer screenings, consider now your reminder.
