Sept. 2 (UPI) — Academy Award-winning actress Jane Fonda has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and has begun chemotherapy, she said on Instagram on Friday.
“This is a very treatable cancer,” Fonda said. “Eighty percent of people survive, so I feel very lucky.”
The 84-year-old Fonda said she considers herself privileged to have health insurance and access to the best medical care. She acknowledged that many families coping with cancer do not have these.
“We also need to be talking much more not just about cures, but about causes so we can eliminate them,” Fonda wrote. “For example, people need to know that fossil fuels cause cancer. So do pesticides, many of which are fossil fuel-based, like mine.”
Fonda said her chemotherapy will last six months, and she vowed to continue her climate advocacy throughout it. Fonda said that her diagnosis has taught her lessons about community and adapting.
She concluded her message by encouraging people to vote in the midterm elections.
“What we do or don’t do right now will determine what kind of future there will be,” Fonda said. “I will not allow cancer to keep me from doing all I can.”
Fonda recently starred in Netflix series “Grace & Frankie,” and will reprise her role in next year’s “Book Club” sequel. The daughter of Henry Fonda and sister of Peter Fonda has been acting since 1960.
Throughout her career, Fonda has been an activist, supporting Native American rights, protesting the Vietnam War, fighting for women’s rights and taking up other causes.
Some of her films reflected such causes, such as the Vietnam veteran drama “Coming Home,” the nuclear safety expose “The China Syndrome” and the workplace sexism comedy “9 to 5.”
