james van der beek He gave fans an emotional update on his mental health since being diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
“Physically, I feel great. I feel great,” said Van Der Beek, 47. robin roberts above good morning america “Emotionally, you know, it’s tough. It’s been a real ride.”
Van der Beek, who announced last month that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer, said he was “honestly shocked” to learn of the diagnosis.
“I had a complete plan for what I wanted my year to be, what I thought my priorities were…and then the reality that all of that was going to change and take a different trajectory. Honestly, it felt like a nightmare at first.” He told Roberts, 64, that even though he was shaken by the new reality, it added to his life “many happy years. He added that he knew he would “add it.”
of dawson’s creek The actor revealed, “I intend to make a change.” [he] Otherwise, you would never have succeeded.” And in the end, you will be grateful that you made it through this difficult time.
“I’ll look back. [this in] “Even after 30 years, I can still say, ‘I’m glad this happened,'” he said. “So what can I do now to make that happen? About 90% of the time I was. I think about 10% of the time I was sobbing, scared and confused.”
His diagnosis was an emotional blow, but James couldn’t help but tear up as he talked about his wife’s ordeal. kimberly van der beek I have supported him through all of this.
“She was amazing. She really taught me what unconditional love is. “I’ve always been a person who tried to give everything to everyone and never asked for help. ” he explained, adding that having to “receive help” is a relatively new occurrence. his life.
“The great blessing of that is how many people in my life have been a part of it,” he added.
In November, James opened up for the first time about his battle with colorectal cancer.
“It’s cancer…about 2 billion people worldwide receive this diagnosis every year. And I’m one of them,” he wrote via Instagram at the time. “There is no strategy on how to [to] Announcing these things, I was going to talk about it at length people In a magazine soon…to raise awareness and tell my story in my own way. But those plans had to change early this morning when the tabloid was informed it was planning to publish the story. ”
James said he had been battling the disease “personally” and was undergoing treatment.
“I’m in a good place and I feel strong,” he added. “This is quite an introduction, and I’ll tell you more when you’re ready.”