Jane Fonda has been diagnosed with cancer, but she feels "very lucky."
The 84-year-old actress shared Friday that she has started chemotherapy after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
"This is a very treatable cancer," she wrote on Instagram. "80 percent of people survive, so I feel very lucky."
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According to the Mayo Clinic, non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma is a type of cancer that begins in the lymphatic system, in which "white blood cells called lymphocytes grow abnormally and can form growths (tumors) throughout the body." But the Mayo Clinic notes that "advances in diagnosis and treatment" have "helped improve the prognosis for people with this disease."
Fonda says she began receiving chemotherapy six months ago and has been "handling the treatments quite well." She also reflected that she feels lucky to have health insurance and recognizes she is "privileged in this." After assuring fans that she would not allow her diagnosis to get in the way of her climate activism, Fonda concluded with a message about this year's midterm elections.
"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," she said.
Fonda previously told British Vogue in 2019 she's "had a lot of cancer" and often goes to her skin doctor to "have things cut off me." She had a tumor in her breast removed in 2010 and had a cancerous growth removed from her lip in 2018.
"It's an ongoing process," she told British Vogue.
