Marcia Rings In 6-0 This Month
- March is celebrated actress Marcia Cross’s birthday month, and this year she turns 60 on March 25; she’s thriving after beating anal cancer.
- Marcia Cross was diagnosed with anal cancer in November 2017, following a routine check-up at the gynecologist.
- For people like Cross who are diagnosed with cancer, it can feel scary and overwhelming. Take care of your mental health during a cancer battle.
The redheaded star is thriving after beating cancer, and we love to see it! She’s also lifting up the work of other survivors, like colon cancer survivor and author Kate Bowler.
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In a post to Instagram, Cross writes of Bowler’s new book, “Thank you @katecbowler!!! You have me at the title! So happy to read your words and bathe in your humor and grace. Xxoo m #GoodEnough”
Overcoming Their Fears Together How Marcia Cross and Her Husband Got Through Their Cancers
Marcia's Anal Cancer Battle
Marcia Cross stood by her husband, Tom Mahoney, as he successfully fought and beat throat cancer. Years later, she herself was diagnosed with anal cancer in November 2017, following a routine check-up at the gynecologist. During a digital rectal exam, her doctor felt something unusual, so Cross was directed to a clinic to get it checked out. After two biopsies and one colonoscopy, it was revealed that the married mother of twin girls (now 15) had cancer.
Cross has spoken candidly about her anal cancer journey and treatment side effects. "The side effects are so gnarly," Cross told Coping magazine. "I will say that when I had my first chemo treatment, I thought I was doing great. And then out of nowhere, I felt this sting in my lip; it was excruciating. It was from the chemo."
Cross has said that her anal cancer was HPV-related. In an earlier interview with SurvivorNet, she said, "It was, in fact, HPV-related anal cancer. So I didn't have any symptoms. Never had an irregular pap smear. I had never heard of HPV until my husband. We both probably carried it for most of our lives. I think there's just a vast lack of knowledge about HPV and how it's spread, how we carry it, what happens to it when you have it."
Anal cancer is fairly rare, says the American Cancer Society (ACS). It's less common than colon and rectum cancers. The ACS estimates that in 2022, there will be approximately 9,440 new cases ( 3,150 in men and 6,290 in women) of anal cancer diagnosed.
Coping with a Cancer Diagnosis
For people like Marcia Cross who are diagnosed with cancer, it can feel scary and overwhelming. Many people experience myriad complicated emotions after their diagnosis. Some may feel anxiety, stress, grief, and even depression.
Related: The Value of Using a Social Worker During Treatment
Dr. Scott Irwin of Cedars-Sinai says in an earlier interview, "Depression is a really interesting topic, because a lot of people assume that, oh, they have cancer. They must be depressed. That's actually not true. 85% of patients do not get what would be considered a clinical depression. 15% do.”
"For prescribing medications for depression in the context of cancer, I often try to choose medications with the lowest side effect profile," explains Dr. Iriwn. "If patients are getting hormonal therapy, there's particular antidepressants that we can't use, because they may lower the effectiveness of that hormonal therapy. And so we choose antidepressants that don't impact the cancer care. Depression and stress make it harder to treat cancer, make it harder to tolerate the treatments."
Treating Depression After a Cancer Diagnosis
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