James Van Der Beek<\/a> was “as honest as possible” with his children about his cancer diagnosis because he didn’t want to “confuse” them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
James Van Der Beek has stage 3 cancer<\/p>\n
The former Dawson’s Creek star – who has Olivia, 14, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 11, Emilia, nine, Gwendolyn, six, and Jeremiah, two, with wife Kimberly – was diagnosed with stage 3 colo-rectal cancer last year and didn’t want to hide the news from his broos because “they know” when he’s not doing well.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Today, he said: \u201cI\u2019m far from an expert, but our approach was just to be as honest as possible, as honest to the degree of their understanding, right? Because they know.<\/p>\n
“They can sense that Dad\u2019s having a tough day.<\/p>\n
“They know if Dad\u2019s in pain. They know, and so by not telling them, I think you\u2019re confusing them even more.”<\/p>\n
\nJames has found “a lot of beauty” in his health struggles because of the way his kids have responded.<\/p>\n
\nHe said: “I have kids making me tea. ‘Dad, what do you need?’ There’s been a lot of beauty that’s come out of it, but I would love to save everybody this journey, which is why I’m saying get screened.”<\/p>\n
\nThe 48-year-old actor advised other parents in a similar situation to share the news with their children as they will be surprised by the resilience of youngsters.<\/p>\n
\nHe said: “When you tell them what you\u2019re doing, and you tell them the approach, they can see it and they can feel it, and I think it\u2019s also your journey is their journey.”<\/p>\n
\nAt the moment, James is “feeling great” but views battling the disease as a “full-time job”.<\/p>\n
\nHe said: “Today, I\u2019m feeling great, yeah. It\u2019s been a journey. There are just so many ups and downs and so many unknowns. Cancer is \u2013 I call it a full-time job.”<\/p>\n
\nJames has made a number of changes to his life, including practicing yoga and trying the keto diet and has learned to slow down.<\/p>\n
\nHe told Today.com: “[I’ve been finding] the beauty of just taking things a little bit more slowly and prioritizing rest and really allowing that to be the job,” he tells TODAY.com.<\/p>\n
\nAnd he is happy he has continued to work, with a role in upcoming TV series Elle.<\/p>\n
\nHe said: “The greatest thing about work is a cancer doesn’t exist between action and cut.<\/p>\n
\n“It was fun to drop in and just have a blast because it’s such a great cast, a great production, and everybody out there is really talented.”<\/p>\n
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