{"id":200873,"date":"2025-12-19T22:19:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T22:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/200873\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T22:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T22:19:10","slug":"james-van-der-beek-says-cancer-has-been-a-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/200873\/","title":{"rendered":"James Van Der Beek Says Cancer Has Been a \u2018Gift\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"James <\/p>\n

A little over a year after announcing he\u2019d been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, James Van Der Beek said his diagnosis has been a \u201cgift\u201d that\u2019s changed his life. In an interview on the Today<\/a> show on Friday, the former Dawson\u2019s Creek star thanked fans for their support and said he\u2019s feeling \u201cmuch, much better than I did a couple months ago.\u201d \u201cI feel a little bit better every month,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s required more of me \u2014 more patience, more discipline, more strength than I knew I had. I knew I was strong \u2014 I didn\u2019t know I was this strong. But I feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the interview, Van Der Beek said he found out about his stage-three colorectal-cancer diagnosis while still in a post-anesthesia haze after getting a colonoscopy. \u201cAs soon as I heard the news, I thought, This is going to be the best thing that ever happened to me,\u201d he said. \u201cI had this little voice in my head that said, You\u2019re going to make changes in your life that you would never, ever make if you didn\u2019t have this extreme of a diagnosis, and it\u2019s going to add healthy, happy years to your life.\u201d Van Der Beek didn\u2019t go into much detail about those changes but said he didn\u2019t know \u201cwhat it was to slow down before\u201d or to \u201creally look at everything I eat, everything I put in my body.\u201d<\/p>\n

He credited his family \u2014 his wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, and their six children \u2014 for his positive outlook. \u201cI would not be alive if it weren\u2019t for my wife. She just has stepped up as a caretaker, as a nurse, as head of the household,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then my kids, as much as I want to shield them from seeing me in any kind of pain or just stress \u2014 I wanted to be Superman, Super Dad \u2014 you realize that resilience is not only something that they have and can build, but it\u2019s the best thing for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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