Alicia Witt was privately battling cancer and had just started undergoing treatment when her parents died, the actor revealed.
The "Dune" star shared the news while discussing her journey in a lengthy Instagram post that was accompanied with videos of her striking a gong in celebration of her treatments as well as selfies and photos of her holding her official certificate.
"Just a little over 2 months ago, i had my last round of chemical therapy prior to my mastectomy," Witt wrote, adding that her "beloved, brilliant, collaborative, communicative doctor" was present when she rang the bell. And while they did not know until after her mastectomy that "the disease was completely healed" from her left breast, the moment signaled the end of her chemotherapy treatment.
Witt thanked her "tiny crew of human angels" who were by her side as she received her six treatments and were also there to assist her in replacing her therapy cap, which aims to minimize hair loss, when needed.
"While keeping hair was obviously the last of my concerns on a larger level, i did deeply wish to keep my diagnosis private until it was 100% healed, god willing," she wrote. "i’m so grateful to all those along the way during treatment who honored me by protecting my privacy during these months and grateful to help share that these caps can truly play a huge role in allowing a patient to reveal her journey on her own time, when she is ready."
Witt explained that her privacy was a "needed part" of her healing as she grieved the loss of her parents — Robert Witt, 87, and Diane Witt, 75— whose bodies were found in their Massachusetts home in December 2021, just as Witt was "beginning" her treatments.
A month later, Witt spoke for the first time about the death of her parents, which was not regarded as suspicious.
"It’s been a month since i got scared, not having heard back from them, and called to have them checked on," she wrote on Facebook.
"Waiting, phone in hand, praying fervently that the next call would be from them, angry i’d gotten someone else involved. knowing as soon as i heard the detective’s voice on the other line that they were gone. knowing i would never hear their voices again. beginning the rest of my life of finding them on the breeze, in a song, in a dream."
Witt concluded her post by noting that she took comfort knowing that their final parting words were of love.
"Our last words to each other were ‘i love you’. that part was simple; never in doubt. they loved me so. i loved them so," she wrote.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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