Jane Fonda is battling cancer, the star announced Friday on her Instagram.
The Grace & Frankie actress, 84, took to the social media platform to share the news. In the caption, she wrote, “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. This is a very treatable cancer. 80% of people survive, so I feel very lucky.”
Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is a cancer that begins in the lymphatic system, according to the Mayo Clinic. As it progresses, white blood cells called lymphocytes grow abnormally and can form tumors.
Fonda, an activist as well as an entertainer, added that she is “lucky” to have access to good health insurance and “the best doctors and treatments.”
“I realize, and it’s painful, that I am privileged in this,” she noted. “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 also said it’s time people talked not only about cures, but also “causes” of such cancer, which, she wrote, includes fossil fuels. Though Fonda said she will be undergoing chemo treatments for six months, she will not let it get in the way of her climate activism.
Fonda called cancer her “teacher” and said she is “paying attention to the lessons” it has for her.
“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,” she shared. “And the cancer, along with my age — almost 85 — definitely teaches the importance of adapting to new realities. We’re living through the most consequential time in human history because what we do or don’t do right now will determine what kind of future there will be and I will not allow cancer to keep me from doing all I can, using every tool in my toolbox and that very much includes continuing to build this Fire Drill Fridays community and finding new ways to use our collective strength to make change.”
She concluded her post with, “The midterms are looming, and they are beyond consequential so you can count on me to be right there together with you as we grow our army of climate champions.”
In July, Fonda launched a climate change PAC in order to support politicians who are finding solutions to the current climate crisis. In a July interview with Good Morning America, she said, “The fossil fuel industry has a stranglehold over our government. And in spite of that, in spite of all the actions that people have taken, we can’t get good legislation passed because the fossil fuel industry has a stranglehold over our government. And that’s what the political action committee’s about — we want to oust the people that are beholden to fossil fuel and we want to elect climate champions.”
In a recent interview with Glamour, Fonda spoke about how getting older has not stood in the way of her living.
“If somebody had told me that, at almost 85 years old, I’d still be working as much as I am and feeling as good as I do, I wouldn’t have believed them,” she said. “At that time in my life, I doubted I would live past 30. Just thinking about that filled me with hope. I didn’t give up. I kept going. I tried to get better. I did.”
