Busy Philipps reveals brain tumour diagnosis: 'I’m grateful to be alive'

{"heading_1":"The Diagnosis and Recovery","paragraph_1":"Busy Philipps, an actress, revealed she had a brain tumour removed after being diagnosed shortly after her co-star James Van Der Beek died of bowel cancer. The 47-year-old, born Elizabeth Philipps, starred in the hit US teen drama as Audrey Liddell opposite Van Der Beek.","paragraph_2":"Philipps said she did not present any obvious symptoms of having a tumour, such as seizures, and was reassured by her doctor that she did not need to have a scan, but felt she needed one regardless. After consulting a second doctor months later, she went through with a whole-body MRI screening in February, which led to the discovery of the grade 2 oligodendroglioma, a rare low-grade (slow-growing) tumour.","paragraph_3":"In March she underwent a five-hour surgery, and a 2.6cm mass was removed from her brain. She debated cancelling the scan with her ex-husband, film-maker Marc Silverstein, as it came days after the death of her friend and former co-star Van Der Beek and just before an audition for a role in the upcoming legal drama Cupertino.","paragraph_4":"When neurologist Dr Orrin Devinsky told her the news, Philipps said she was 'hyperventilating and trying to breathe'. Two days after the surgery, she was back home recovering and said she 'wasn't in pain at all' with more than 40 surgical staples in her forehead."}