James Van Der Beek had a tearful moment on Good Morning America this week when recounting his colorectal cancer diagnosis.
The former Dawson's Creek actor sat down with Robin Roberts on Tuesday (Dec. 3) before he undergoes treatment for stage 3 colorectal cancer about the rollercoaster ride of his health journey. Van Der Beek reportedly received his diagnosis, or began treatment last August, but publicly announced the diagnosis earlier this month.
"Physically, I'm great. I’m feeling really good. Emotionally, you know, it's a lot. It's really a ride," the 47-year-old told Roberts at the start of the interview.
The actor added that he was "in shock" upon hearing the diagnosis. "I was doing what I thought I needed to do ... I was in amazing cardiovascular shape, I was eating what I thought was healthy. And I had a whole agenda for what I thought my year would be and what I thought my priorities would be in the next couple weeks and months," he said.
"And the reality that all of that was going to change and take a different trajectory–it felt like a nightmare honestly at first, that I couldn't quite wake up from. It's a lot."
But Van Der Beek's optimism has allowed him to pull through, in addition to support from his wife, Kimberly, with whom he shares six children. "As soon as I got diagnosed, I knew, 'alright, this is going to add many happy years to my life,'" Van Der Beek said.
"I'm going to make changes that I never would have made otherwise, that I'm gonna look back on thirty years and say, 'Thank God this happened.' So what can I do right now in order to make that the case," he recounted. "And that's how it was about 90 percent of the time. I would say that about ten-percent of the time I was a sobbing, terrified mess."
The actor added that his diagnosis has been an "exercise" in remaining "present to all of it."
Van Der Beek also credited his participation in the two-hour Fox special The Real Full Monty, which raises awareness for early prostate, testicular, and colon cancer detection, as pushing him to find "purpose" in his cancer diagnosis.
"I think by sharing this I can do some good, especially, my type of cancer, is twice as prevalent now as it was in the 90s ... in younger and healthier people," he said.
Van Der Beek has received an outpouring of support from fans, an in response, he recently announced plans to sell memorabilia, including jerseys from his 1999 film Varsity Blues, with one hundred percent of net proceeds going to cancer treatments for himself and others.