Danielle Fishel has been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer at the age of 43.
The “Boy Meets World” star — who famously played Topanga on the ’90s show and in its sequel series “Girl Meets World” — announced her diagnosis on her rewatch podcast “Pod Meets World.”
“I was recently diagnosed with DCIS, which stands for ductal carcinoma in situ, which is a form of breast cancer,” she revealed on Monday’s episode. “It’s very, very, very early, it’s technically stage zero.”
Fishel explained that she “had to make a lot of decisions over the last couple days” and plans to have surgery to remove the pre-cancerous lesions. She added that it was discovered in her annual mammogram appointment, which she’d made the moment she received a reminder it was time to do so.
“They found it so, so, so early that I’m going to be fine. So, I want to share this because I hope that it will encourage anyone to get in there,” Fishel said. “If it’s time for your appointment, if you’ve never had an appointment before, get in there. If you have to find out that you have cancer, find out when it’s at stage zero, if possible.”
Originally, she planned to keep the diagnosis to herself and “suffer in silence,” only telling the public after she’d beaten it. But after some consideration, she decided to be open. Her podcast cohosts Will Friedle and Rider Strong were among the first people Fishel told after her family.
“We love you and you know that we’ve got you,” Friedle said in the episode. “Whatever you need, we’re here. You are going to be fine and you might have some sucky days coming up, but we’re here for you.”
