Jane Fonda announced on Friday that she has been diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing chemo treatments.
The 84-year-old actress shared the news with her 1.9 million followers in an Instagram post.
Fonda started her post: "So, my dear friends, I have something personal I want to share. I’ve been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and have started chemo treatments."
Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is a form of cancer that starts in the lymphatic system - the part of our immune system responsible for protecting us against germs.
"This is a very treatable cancer. 80 percent of people survive, so I feel very lucky," she continued. "I’m also lucky because I have health insurance and access to the best doctors and treatments. I realize, and it’s painful, that I am privileged in this."
She went on: "Almost every family in America has had to deal with cancer at one time or another and far too many don’t have access to the quality health care I am receiving and this is not right.
"We also need to be talking much more not just about cures but about causes so we can eliminate them. For example, people need to know that fossil fuels cause cancer. So do pesticides, many of which are fossil fuel-based, like mine."
Fonda shared that she will undergo chemotherapy for six months and is so far "handling the treatments quite well," going on to emphasize: "I will not let any of this interfere with my climate activism."
The Grace and Frankie star added: "Cancer is a teacher and I’m paying attention to the lessons it holds for me. One thing it’s shown me already is the importance of community. Of growing and deepening one’s community so that we are not alone.
"And the cancer, along with my age --almost 85-- definitely teaches the importance of adapting to new realities.
"We’re living through the most consequential time in human history because what we do or don’t do right now will determine what kind of future there will be and I will not allow cancer to keep me from doing all I can, using every tool in my toolbox and that very much includes continuing to build this Fire Drill Fridays community and finding new ways to use our collective strength to make change.
"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."
Fonda has been very open about her history with cancer. In 2010, she underwent a procedure which removed a non-cancerous tumor in her breast, a rep confirmed to People at the time. Some years later, she revealed to British Vogue that she'd had a mastectomy in 2016. She also shared during a BUILD Series interview in 2018 that she'd had a cancerous growth removed from her lip.