Colin Egglesfield revealed this week that he has been diagnosed with cancer for the third time.
“Thankfully, we caught my prostate cancer early and after a year of doing a lot of research and talking to quite a few health care professionals, I elected to be proactive and have surgery,” he wrote in a lengthy Instagram post.
“The beginning to this year hasn’t been the easiest, but in the spirit of what I said in my interview, this is another opportunity to decide who I choose to be in the face of uncertainty and challenges in my most recent cancer diagnosis,” he added. Egglesfield included a quote from an interview he did when he was 25 years old, in which he said, “It’s not the hand that you’ve been dealt because you can’t change that. It’s how you play the cards that counts.”
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The “All My Children” star thanked his doctors, nurses and staff at City of Hope Phoenix and everyone who’s been sending him well wishes for supporting him “through this scary time.”
“Hopefully this is a reminder to everyone that you’re not alone with whatever you’re facing and that it’s important to advocate for yourself and your health which includes checkups, seeking information and asking for help when you need it!” Egglesfield wrote.
The 52-year-old said he’s been getting “healthier and stronger” despite still being a bit sore after surgery, and he’s “determined to come back stronger and healthier than ever especially with the help of my sexy walker.”
“It all starts with a decision to commit to what you decide to be with whatever you’re facing,” Egglesfield continued. “I decide to be RESILIENCE, FAITH, COURAGE, GRACE and INSPIRATION. What do you choose to be?”
He added that he’s “honored” to be leading City of Hope’s Cancer Fighters program next month “and to be able to support others on their cancer journey. Let’s go! You’re not alone!”
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Egglesfield reminded men that they should get their PSA — prostate-specific antigen — checked regularly, noting, “It saved my life!”
On Thursday, he shared with his Instagram followers that he’d had his “First check up post surgery. Things are on track and I’m feeling positive.”
Egglesfield wrote that he goes through phases of “feeling good” and feeling overwhelmed: “Some moments I feel like it’s all good and I’m able to move forward and others I’m halted and unable to understand what is going on and how I’m supposed to integrate new realities into my life.”
He shared with his followers that what helps is “slowing down and finding space to voice what’s really swirling in the background of all of this without comment of it or trying to fix it.”
Egglesfield ended his lengthy post with a reminder to those who may be dealing with challenges themselves, “Rest, breathe, and trust that in time, with conviction and love, healing is possible.”
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On Wednesday, the actor revealed that he was back home after being in the hospital for a couple of days after his surgery and that the doctor said “the surgery went really well.”
“It’s amazing how incredible we all can be when we all carry, and we rally around each other,” Egglesfield added.
While holding back tears, he said he’d had some emotional conversations over the past few weeks “and it still gets me a little emotional talking about it because cancer and any health experience, it’s scary. It’s never something you plan for.”
But, he added, “life is life and as much as we try to plan for it — that saying ‘If you want to make God laugh, make a plan’ — I think the best that we can do is just have our goals and our dreams and work towards those and surround ourselves with amazing people.”
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“Tomorrow is never guaranteed and having that surgery just reminded me for the third freaking time going through this cancer journey that tomorrow is not guaranteed,” Egglesfield continued.
He encouraged people to “live life more full out.”
Egglesfield was previously diagnosed with testicular cancer twice before, first in 2006.
In 2019, he told Fox News: “It’s not something that men normally like to talk about, and for the longest time, I didn’t want to talk about it because it’s something very personal. I just noticed that my left testicle had swelled up, and I went to see the doctor, and he said that we needed to do some tests, ultrasound, a blood test. And they discovered that it was at a pretty advanced stage, and did the surgery and found that some of the cancer cells had gone through the veins and arteries to the kidneys.”
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Egglesfield underwent surgery to remove the cancer, but on the one-year anniversary of his initial diagnosis, doctors discovered it had spread to his other testicle as well. The chances of that happening are pinned at around 5%. He was eventually declared cancer-free until this year.
