Jane Fonda is battling cancer.
The 84-year-old actress took to Instagram on Friday to reveal that she’s begun chemotherapy treatment for a “very treatable” form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“I feel very lucky,” Fonda writes, citing a statistic that 80 percent of people survive. “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 continues by using her diagnosis by drawing attention to links between fossil fuels and cancer, saying that her form on cancer is “fossil fuel-based.”
“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,” continues the lifelong activist. “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.”
More to come.
