The actress who played Topanga on the 90s sitcom said her first instinct when she was diagnosed was to stay quiet, but is sharing the news to hopefully help others.
WASHINGTON — “Boy Meets World” star Danielle Fishel has revealed she’s been diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer.
Fishel made the announcement on Monday’s episode of the “Pod Meets World” podcast she co-hosts with fellow “Boy Meets World” alums Rider Strong and Will Friedle.
Fishel, who played Topanga on the 90s sitcom and Disney Channel reboot “Girl Meets World,” shared that after a routine mammogram she was diagnosed with Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
“It is very, very, very early. It’s technically Stage zero,” the 43-year-old shared. “To be specific, just because I like too much information all the time, I was diagnosed with high grade DCIS with microinvasion.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, with DCIS, the cancer cells are confined inside a milk duct in the breast and hasn’t spread into the breast tissue. It is a “very early form of breast cancer” that’s sometimes called “noninvasive, preinvasive or stage 0 breast cancer,” the organization explained.
“I’m going to be fine, I’m having surgery to remove it, I’m going to be on some follow-up treatment. I’ve had to make a lot of decisions over the last couple of days,” Fishel told podcast listeners.
The actress admitted she initially thought that if she ever was diagnosed with cancer that she would “suffer in silence.”
“My first instinct when I was diagnosed was to do that clam-up thing,” she said. “Then what I realized is, the more people I talk to, the more people had their own experiences, either themselves being diagnosed with cancer or a family member who’s been diagnosed with cancer, and the world of resources and experiences that can be shared by sharing it, and things that can be learned.”
“The only reason I caught this cancer when it is still Stage zero is because the day I got my text message that my yearly mammogram had come up, I made the appointment,” Fishel added.
She explained that she wants to share her diagnosis to encourage everyone not to postpone or delay their annual mammograms or other health check-ups.
“They found it so, so, so early that I’m going to be fine,” she explained.
