Jane Fonda, 85, Reveals Cancer Diagnosis, Begins Chemotherapy: ‘I Feel Very Lucky’

• Jane Fonda revealed she has non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

• The actress, 85, has started a six-month stint of chemotherapy and is “handling the treatments quite well,” she said.

• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is “very treatable,” she added, and she feels lucky to have access to quality health care.

Over the holiday weekend, Jane Fonda shared an important health update. The Grace and Frankie star, 85, revealed she was diagnosed with cancer—non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) to be exact. But, she’s not letting it dull her perseverance.

More specifically, Fonda has non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a “very treatable cancer,” she wrote in an Instagram post. NHL is a type of cancer that starts in white blood cells and usually affects the lymph nodes, and it’s predicted to affect over 80,000 people in 2022. According to the American Cancer Society, the NHL survival rate varies by type, and Fonda didn’t disclose which type she has. However, the five-year relative survival rate for all types and stages combined between 2011 and 2017 was 73%.

In Fonda’s post, she said she’s already started a six-month chemotherapy stint and is “very lucky” to be “handling the treatments quite well.”

“I’m also lucky because I have health insurance and access to the best doctors and treatments,” she continued. “I realize, and it’s painful, that I am privileged in this. 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.”

She added that her newfound illness won’t keep her from pressing on in her environmental activism and hosting Fire Drill Fridays in Washington, D.C. “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,” she wrote.

She continued: “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 keeping the Klute star in our thoughts as she continues on this new journey.

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