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The Young and the Restless (Y&R) alum Maria Bell has stepped forward to reveal that she’s battling breast cancer.
The former head writer and executive producer shared the distressing news on Instagram. Luckily, she’s planning on taking this disease down!
“I haven’t told many people but I’ve been fighting breast cancer since April,” Bell wrote in the caption. “I’m here to say I completed this step of the journey!”
In the post, Bell detailed some of the challenging hurdles along the way, including a “terrible post-op infection”. However, she also reveals that she’s just finished her 19th round of radiation.
The talented soap veteran also called for more dialogue around cancer in the workplace – and particularly in Hollywood.
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“Working in Hollywood I’ve seen first-hand about how and why we can’t talk about it,” Bell stated. “You’ll lose jobs or people will think you’re over.”
Bell recalled one chilling incident in which she saw cancer stigma up close and personal. “I will never forget the Sony exec who wanted to fire one of the Y&R writers for having breast cancer,” Bell continued, without naming names.
“Can we all be unafraid of speaking our truth?” Bell asked. “We are all going through things – let’s normalize cancer!”
Y&R cast members left encouraging comments on the Instagram post. Greg Rikaart (Kevin) called Bell a “warrior”.
“Sending so much love and healing,” wrote Tracey Bregman (Lauren), who recently crossed over to The Bold and the Beautiful.
The former exec struck a defiant tone, which suggests she has lots of fight left in her! “Don’t count me out!” she warned.
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