Speaking to People about the diagnosis, Philipps said her doctor told her she needed surgery.
“This is a real tumour, and it’s inside your brain. And Busy, it’s got to come out,” Philipps recalled, adding she began hyperventilating after hearing the news.
A month later, Philipps underwent a five-hour operation to remove the 2.6cm tumour, the outlet reported. A biopsy later identified it as a grade 2 oligodendroglioma, a rare, slow-growing malignant brain tumour.
Specialists advised her that it is considered among the most treatable forms of malignant glioma.
She said she does not require chemotherapy or radiation treatment but will continue to undergo regular scans to monitor for any recurrence.
Dawson’s Creek star Busy Philipps revealed she underwent surgery after a preventive full-body MRI scan. Photo / Getty Images
Philipps said she had experienced no obvious symptoms before the diagnosis, though she now believes some emotional and cognitive struggles over the past few years may have been linked to the tumour pressing on her frontal lobe.
“I wasn’t consciously aware that anything was really wrong, but there was something that was misfiring,” she told the outlet. “My brain does not feel broken any more.”
The actor said telling her two daughters about the diagnosis was one of the most difficult parts of the experience. Her eldest daughter, Birdie, was devastated, while her younger daughter, Cricket, was relaxed after she heard it could be removed safely, the outlet reported.
Her recovery was complicated in April when she developed a staph infection around the area where she had surgery and required a second operation.
“The second surgery really threw me. I just felt like I was back to square one, and I was really, really upset,” she said.
Philipps kept the diagnosis private for six months, sharing updates only with close friends and family. She said she wanted to protect her daughters from additional public attention while recovering and returning to work on her new television series, Cupertino.
Speaking about it this week, Philipps expressed gratitude that she went ahead with the MRI despite initially questioning the cost.
“I’m grateful that I’m alive,” she said, describing the past six months as “the weirdest six months of my life”.