Kate Walsh has opened up about a topic both personal and frightening:
She was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor.
The actress – who rose to fame as Addison Montgomery on Grey’s Anatomy and who then starred on the spinoff Private Practice and who also plays a key role on Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why – divulged this scary tidbit to to Cosmpolitan.
She told the magazine that she went to see a doctor after experiencing serious bouts of exhaustion, while she was simultaneous struggling to finish sentences and had difficulty working out.
“My pilates instructor said ‘hey, your right side is dipping,’ and it didn’t feel like I was off, but I looked down and could see it. Then when I was driving, I started swerving into the right lane,” Walsh told Cosmopolitan.
She continued:
“The exhaustion got to the point where I could drink five cups of coffee and still not feel awake or clear.
“And then around April, I started having more cognitive difficulties.
“It felt like aphasia, but it wasn’t just not being able to find words; I would lose my train of thought, I wasn’t able to finish sentences, and that was when I got really alarmed.”
This all took place in early 2015.
Upon visiting with a neurologist, Walsh received her diagnosis.
“The words ‘brain tumor’ were never in my zeitgeist,” she said, explaining her shock at the time and adding:
“I went in for the MRI, and you know it’s serious when they don’t even wait, they’re like ‘hey, the radiologist wants to see you.’ And she starts to say, ‘Well, it looks like you have a very sizable brain tumor’ – and I just left my body.
“My assistant had driven me there, and I had to go get him so that he could take notes, because I was gone.
“It was never anything I would have imagined.”
Three days after learning about the tumor, Walsh underwent surgery for its removal.
During her road to recovery, Walsh took nine months off, referring to the diagnosis was a “wake-up call.”
“Those cliche, existential things do happen when you have a brain tumor, like, ‘How do I really want to spend my time?’” she said to the magazine.
“I want to be with my friends and family and work on projects that are hugely important to me, and fun, and that make a cultural contribution.
“But my health comes first, and I’ve had to change my lifestyle.”
Appearing on The View on Monday morning, Walsh said she chose to speak out now as part of her partnership with Cigna’s campaign about preventative care.
“It was a perfect opportunity to really emphasize the importance of advocating for your own health, particularly women,” she explained.
The former Grey’s Anatomy regular appears in a new doctor-themed ad with her former colleague, Patrick Dempsey, along with other actors who famously played doctors, such as Neil Patrick Harris.
“We had such a blast,” Walsh says of the campaign. “It was so fun for me to be reunited with Patrick.”
We’re just so glad to hear that Walsh had this potentially major problem diagnosed early and taken care of quickly.
We wish her the best.
