Jane Fonda Says She Feels ‘Stronger Than I Have in Years’ Amid Cancer Battle
Jane Fonda is keeping a positive outlook on life as she continues to fight B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The actress gave a health update in a blog post on Tuesday, saying that three weeks into chemotherapy treatment, she feels “stronger than I have in years.”
“The doctor told me the best antidote to the tiredness that chemotherapy can cause is to move. Walk. And I have been walking. Very early before the record heat kicks in. Also working out,” she wrote. “This is not my first encounter with cancer. I’ve had breast cancers and had a mastectomy and come through very well and I will do so again.”
The 84-year-old actress first revealed her diagnosis in a candid Instagram post last week. “So, my dear friends, I have something personal I want to share. I’ve been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and have started chemo treatments,” she wrote. “This is a very treatable cancer. 80 percent of people survive, so I feel very lucky.”
She shared that she has been undergoing chemo for six months and is “handling the treatments quite well,” noting that she has no plans to let cancer slow down her or interfere with her climate activism.
Fonda also went on to call herself “lucky” to “have health insurance and access to the best doctors and treatment,” acknowledging her “privilege” as a wealthy celebrity. “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,” she continued.
Keeping her outlook positive, she said she is choosing to see cancer as a “teacher” and is “paying attention to the lessons it holds for me.”
“One thing it’s shown me already is the importance of community,” she wrote. “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.”
This story was updated on 9/7 at 12:20pm ET with Fonda’s latest health update.