Busy Philipps is opening up about the health scare that quietly reshaped her year.
The COUGAR TOWN alum, 47, told PEOPLE she underwent two brain surgeries in 2026 after doctors discovered a rare, malignant tumor, admitting, “I’m grateful that I’m alive.”
The saga began in February, when Philipps almost skipped a routine full-body MRI she’d scheduled on a whim. She nearly canceled the appointment the morning after learning her DAWSON’S CREEK costar James Van Der Beek had died of colorectal cancer, a loss Movieguide® covered as Van Der Beek leaned on his own faith throughout his battle.
Her ex-husband, screenwriter Marc Silverstein, talked her into going anyway.
“Maybe it’s the best thing you could do for your friend this morning. Go get that scan,” he told her, according to Philipps.
The scan turned up a 2.6-centimeter mass in her frontal lobe. Neurologist Dr. Orrin Devinsky didn’t soften the news.
“This is a real tumor, and it’s inside your brain. And Busy, it’s got to come out,” he told her.
Doctors diagnosed the growth as a grade 2 oligodendroglioma, a rare, slow-growing but malignant tumor that affects roughly 1,100 to 1,300 Americans a year. Philipps underwent a five-hour surgery on March 2 to remove it, walking away with more than 40 staples and several titanium tacks in her skull.
Related: James Van Der Beek Dies at Age 48 After Cancer Battle
She went right back to work, filming scenes for the new CBS legal drama CUPERTINO. Weeks later, at a Botox appointment of all places, her dermatologist noticed something was wrong at the incision site.
It turned out to be a staph infection, and Philipps needed a second surgery on April 27 to clean it out and remove one of the tacks.
“The second surgery really threw me. I just felt like I was back to square one,” she said.
Despite the setback, her medical team sounds optimistic. Neuro-oncologist Dr. Alexandra Miller told Philipps her particular tumor has “the best prognosis of all malignant gliomas,” while neurosurgeon Dr. John Golfinos told her she has “a great chance that this may not recur.” She won’t need chemotherapy or radiation, though doctors will keep tracking her with regular scans.
Philipps chose her words carefully with her daughters, Birdie, 18, and Cricket, 13, whom she shares with Silverstein. When Birdie asked if her mom would be fine, Philipps tried to lighten the moment.
“Birdie, you’re just not in the movie where your mom dies your senior year of high school,” she told her.
Now several months removed from that second surgery, Philipps says she’d rather know a hard truth than live without one.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of in having information. It’s only empowering,” she said.
There’s something worth sitting with in how this whole thing started: a scan she nearly skipped, kept only because a friend’s death made her want to show up for her own family. Scripture doesn’t promise anyone a smooth road or an easy diagnosis, but it does call believers to steward the bodies and the time they’ve been given, and to let hard news become an occasion for gratitude rather than despair. Six months and two surgeries later, Philipps’ story reads like an unplanned testimony to exactly that.
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