"Boy Meets World" actress Danielle Fishel revealed that she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.
The 43-year-old actress, who shared the news in the latest episode of her "Pod Meets World" podcast, said "learning from the experiences of others" motivated her to share the diagnosis.
"I was recently diagnosed with DCIS, which stands for ductal carcinoma in situ, which is a form of breast cancer," Fishel said in the Aug. 19 episode. "It is very, very, very early, it's technically stage zero."
The actress said she plans to have surgery to remove it.
"I've had to make a lot of decisions over the last couple of days," she said, adding that she only planned to tell her immediate family and close friends but no one else.
She said she changed her mind after reading the work of author Glennon Doyle. Paraphrasing, Fishel said that Doyle argues that "the place you have the most to learn from is at the very beginning of a story or in the very messy middle of a story."
Fishel said doctors caught the DCIS early because she had a reminder on her phone to schedule her annual mammogram appointment.
"I want to share this because I hope that it will encourage anyone to get in there," she said. "If it's time for your appointment, if you've never had an appointment before, get in there. If you have to find out that you have cancer, find out when it's at stage 0 if possible."
According to breastcancer.org, DCIS is breast cancer at the earliest stage. It is not life-threatening, "but if you're diagnosed with DCIS, you have a higher risk of developing invasive breast cancer later in life."
Podcast co-hosts Rider Strong and Will Friedle, who starred in "Boy Meets World," were among the first people to know about Fishel's diagnosis.
"We love you, and you know that we've got you. Whatever you need, we're here," said Friedle. "You are going to be fine, and you might have some sucky days coming up, but we're here for you."
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