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Actress Jane Fonda has revealed that she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.
In a post to her 1.9 million Instagram followers, Fonda, 84, said she had lymphoma.
She described the cancer as “of the curable type, so I feel very fortunate.”
The Hollywood icon used her post to highlight the state of health care in the United States and said she would continue her activism in the defense of the environment.
She wrote that she felt “lucky to have health insurance and access to the best doctors and treatment.”
“I realized, painfully, that I was lucky in this.”
“Almost every family in America has had to deal with cancer at some point, and many of them don’t get the quality health care I get, and that’s not acceptable,” she added.
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is the least common type of cancer and usually affects the lymphatic system – the body’s extensive network of blood vessels and glands.
Fonda said on Instagram that she will undergo six months of chemotherapy but will not allow this to affect her environmental activism.
The Oscar-winning actress made her acting debut in 1960, and is best known for starring in films including Barbarella, Nine to Five and Unguented Bond.
Her last appearance was in the Netflix comedy series Grace and Frankie.
Fonda is also known as a political activist. In the 1960s, it openly opposed the Vietnam War.
More recently, she has become an anti-climate activist. In 2016, she spent Thanksgiving among protesters at Standing Rock, where protesters demonstrated once morest the construction of the Dakota Pipeline.
In her online message, Fonda said her diagnosis highlighted the importance of society to her.
“Cancer is a teacher and I pay attention to the lessons it gives me. And one of the lessons it really showed me is the importance of society,” she added.
As well as “developing and deepening the individual’s relationship with society so that we are not alone.” “Cancer, along with my age – almost 85 – certainly teaches us the importance of adapting to new realities.”
“We live in the most important time in human history because what we do or don’t do now will determine what kind of future we have, and I will not allow cancer to stop me from doing everything I can,” she added.
At the end of her letter, Fonda highlighted the November midterm elections – in which candidates compete for seats in the US House of Representatives and just over a third of the seats in the Senate.
“The midterm elections are approaching, and they are very important, so you can count on me to be there with you as our army of environmental champions grows,” she wrote.