Actress Busy Philipps has revealed she secretly underwent surgery after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. The star, best known for her roles in Dawson's Creek and White Chicks, had two life-saving procedures to remove the growth.
Diagnosis and surgery
Speaking to People magazine, Philipps, 47, said: 'I'm grateful that I'm alive,' adding that it has been 'the weirdest six months of my life.' After going for a scan, she recalled the doctor telling her: 'This is a real tumour, and it's inside your brain. And Busy, it's got to come out,' which led to her 'hyperventilating and trying to breathe.'
The Cougar Town actress was diagnosed with grade 2 oligodendroglioma, a rare slow-growing tumour often found in people aged between 30 and 50, in February. She had been forced to postpone her original appointment due to a blizzard in New York City weeks before.
Timing of the news
The news came just weeks before Philipps was due to start filming her CBS show Cupertino, and she had to tell her daughters Birdie, 18, and Cricket, 13, about her diagnosis. Her scan on February 12 took place just one day after her Dawson's Creek co-star James Van Der Beek died of colon cancer.
