Busy Philipps is opening up about privately dealing with health issues this year that led her to undergo two surgeries after doctors discovered a brain tumor.
In a new cover story with People magazine, Philipps spoke for the first time about doctors finding a brain tumor in February. “I’m grateful that I’m alive,” she said. “The weirdest six months of my life.”
The Freaks and Geeks actress said she didn’t have any of the usual symptoms associated with a brain tumor but wanted to get a scan anyway. She underwent a Prenuvo scan, a full-body MRI that checks for more than 500 conditions, which led to the discovery of a grade 2 oligodendroglioma, a rare slow-growing tumor.
Philipps almost backed out of her appointment, however, after her friend and former Dawson’s Creek co-star James Van Der Beek died at age 48 of colon cancer the day before her scheduled scan. But with the encouragement from her ex-husband, screenwriter Marc Silverstein, she went through with it.
The scan revealed a lesion on Philipps’ brain. Doctors ruled out glioblastoma, but urged her to undergo an MRI.
