Actress Busy Philipps has revealed she was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour after undergoing a full-body scan inspired by the death of her Dawson's Creek co-star James Van Der Beek.
The 47-year-old star received the diagnosis in February after taking the MRI scan the day after Van Der Beek died from colon cancer at age 48. She underwent a five-hour surgery in March to remove the 2.6cm tumour, just weeks before she started filming her new series Cupertino.
Speaking to People Magazine about her health ordeal, Philipps expressed gratitude for surviving, describing the past half year as the weirdest six months of her life.
Philipps is an American actress known for her roles as Audrey Liddell in the teen drama series Dawson's Creek, as well as performances in Freaks and Geeks, Cougar Town, and Girls5eva. Van Der Beek starred as Dawson Leery in Dawson's Creek, a popular television drama that aired from 1998 to 2003.
Discovery of the tumour
Philipps said she experienced no physical symptoms prior to the discovery of her grade 2 oligodendroglioma. The rare, slow-growing tumour affects between 1,100 and 1,300 people annually in the United States.
The lesion was detected only after Philipps decided to book a full-body MRI scan, which screens for more than 500 medical conditions, after reading about the procedure on Instagram. Her appointment was originally set for January, but a severe blizzard forced her to reschedule to February 12, the morning after Van Der Beek died.
Amid her grief for her friend and a busy work schedule, Philipps discussed cancelling the scan with her ex-husband and close friend, Marc Silverstein. However, Silverstein encouraged her to keep the appointment, suggesting that Van Der Beek would want her to prioritize her health.
He told her, "Maybe it's the best thing you could do for your friend this morning. Go get that scan."
The MRI revealed a lesion inside her brain, though doctors quickly ruled out glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer. Her physician instructed her to schedule a second MRI immediately to obtain a clearer view of the growth.
Philipps recalled the phone call in which her doctor told her, "This is a real tumor, and it's inside your brain. And Busy, it's got to come out." She admitted she began hyperventilating and trying to breathe after receiving the news.
Surgery and family support
One month later, in March, Philipps underwent a five-hour surgical operation to remove the 2.6cm tumour. Silverstein, who is the father of her daughters Birdie, 17, and Cricket, 13, accompanied her to the hospital to provide support.
Philipps described telling her daughters about the diagnosis, noting that her eldest daughter, Birdie, was beside herself and overwhelmed with emotion. To comfort her, Philipps recalled telling her, "Birdie, you're just not in the movie where your mom dies your senior year of high school. That's just not the movie that you're in. I promise you."
Her younger daughter, Cricket, asked for reassurance about her recovery. Philipps said Cricket asked, "Okay. You're going to be fine?" to which Philipps answered, "I'm totally going to be fine."
A biopsy confirmed the tumour was malignant, but her doctor offered a positive outlook, stating that it has the best prognosis of all of the malignant gliomas. Her physician added that she really has a great chance that this may not recur.
Because of the tumour type and surgical results, Philipps does not require chemotherapy or radiation treatment. She will undergo regular preventative scans to monitor for any sign of recurrence.
Surgical complications and infection
In April, Philipps suffered a severe setback when she developed a staphylococcus infection at the surgical site. The complication required her to undergo a second surgery to clear the infection from her incision.
The infection was discovered by chance when her dermatologist noticed during a Botox appointment that her incision was not healing properly. Philipps, who had just started filming Cupertino, admitted that the second procedure threw her off, leaving her feeling as though she was back to square one and extremely upset.
Staphylococcus is a genus of bacteria that can cause serious postoperative infections if it enters open surgical wounds. The frontal lobe of the brain is responsible for emotional regulation, cognitive control, and social behaviour, meaning physical pressure from a growth in this region can trigger unexpected emotional changes.
Philipps reflected that extreme emotional reactions she experienced over the past two years were likely caused by the tumour pressing on her frontal lobe, rather than perimenopause as she had originally believed.
Although doctors cannot definitively confirm the link, her best friend and former Dawson's Creek co-star Michelle Williams, who helped care for her after surgery, reminded her of her previous comments. Williams pointed out, "Busy, you have been saying for the past two years, My brain feels broken."
Philipps agreed with Williams, stating, "I wasn't consciously aware that anything was really wrong, but there was something that was misfiring. Like, I could not get a handle on it. My brain does not feel broken anymore."
Williams played Jen Lindley on Dawson's Creek alongside Philipps. The pair have maintained a close personal friendship for more than twenty years since appearing together on the show.
Private recovery and public disclosure
In a video posted to Instagram on Wednesday, Philipps explained that she maintained privacy during her recovery by sharing updates only with close friends and family on Instagram. She said she wanted to protect her daughters from having to deal with the added insanity of their mom talking about it publicly.
She also noted that she had to begin filming her show Cupertino just four and a half weeks after her initial surgery, adding that she had to lock in and get through it.
Philipps expressed immense relief at deciding to proceed with the MRI, admitting that she was unemployed at the time of the scan and considered it a stupid amount of money to spend before choosing to do it anyway.
Although she kept the specifics private until this week, Philipps had teased her health scare in a March 19 Instagram post, describing the period as literally the weirdest two and a half weeks of her life.
In the post, she reflected on her gratitude for life, writing, "i love my daughters. i love my friends. i love my dog and cats. i love my ex-husband(legal husband still lol) i f****** hate war and the cold and ready for that to be over but seriously, how lucky we are to be anything at all?" She concluded the post by writing that existing is a gift and adding, "let's move the f*** on. hand on my heart. hand on my stupid heart."
