Dawson’s Creek Actor James Van Der Beek Turns 48, Recounts ‘Hardest Year of My Life’ & What He’s Learned Amid Battling Colorectal Cancer: ‘I Am Worthy of God’s Love’

Van Der Beek explained in his recent celebratory Instagram post, “Today is my birthday and it has been the hardest year of my life. And I wanted to share something that I learned with you all.

“When I was younger, I used to define myself as an actor, which it was never all that fulfilling. And then I became a husband and that was much better … and then I became a father, and that was the ultimate—I could define myself then as a loving, capable, strong, supportive husband, father, steward of the land we’re so lucky to live on.

He continued, “For a long time that felt like a really good definition of ‘Who am I? What am I?’ And then this year, I had to look my own mortality in the eye. I had to come nose to nose with death and all of those definitions that I cared so deeply about were stripped from me.

“I was away for treatment, so I could no longer be a husband that was helpful to my wife, I could no longer be a father who could pick up his kids and put them to bed and be there for them.”

After looking back as to how he couldn’t be a “provider” as he had taken time off from work nor a “steward of the land” as he wasn’t able to tend to his normal house-duties, he admitted to thinking “What am I?” as he was focused on getting through his cancer battle.

He commended meditation for helping give him the answer, explaining, “I am worthy of God’s love. Simply because I exist … and if I’m worthy of God’s love, shouldn’t I also be worthy of my own?

“And the same is true for you … As I move through this healing portal of recovery, I wanted to share this with you because that revelation that came to me was the doing of all the prayers and love that had been directed toward me.”

Van Der Beek then admitted how the concept of God is a “constant unfolding mystery” to him, encouraging that if others don’t believe in a God, they can simply tell themselves “I am worthy of love.”

“Thank you for the love and prayers everyone. Have a blessed day.”

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The Power of Faith

For some people like James Van Der Beek, turning to faith is a wonderful way to keep spirits high when cancer starts taking an emotional and/or physical toll, or leading up to an importance procedure. New York City Presbyterian Pastor Tom Evans previously spoke with SurvivorNet about the importance of find ways to cope with the complex web of feelings you may be experiencing after a cancer diagnosis.

“It’s important to reach out in a simple prayer to God, even if you’ve never prayed before, you don’t know what to say, a heartfelt plea, ‘God, help me, be with me,’” Pastor Evans told SurvivorNet.

“You can reach out to God and you can reach out to people, your friends and family and say, ‘I can’t do this on my own. I need you.’ It’s in that willingness to be open and to receive that we can actually find something deeper that we never would’ve encountered without this hardship.”

Meanwhile, a study published in Cancer, found that 69% of cancer patients say that they relied on faith throughout cancer treatment, and use prayer as a way to call for good health.

Researchers who studied the relationship between praying and life expectancy in cancer patients found the power of prayer can actually help patients withstand pain and suffering.

“The patients can overcome their illnesses with the help of praying and of other religious actions, thus helping them gain more power and being able to control their illnesses, as they know a lot about their sickness therefore, they can stand the pain and suffering and become hopeful to future,” researchers N. Hekmati Pour and H. Hojjati said in the Journal of Medicine and Life.

Understanding Colon Cancer & Van Der Beek’s Diagnosis

James Van Der Beek learned he had colorectal cancer last year after getting a colonoscopy done. He told People in his tell-all interview that his bowel issues led him to get checked.

“I thought maybe I needed to stop coffee. Or maybe not put cream in the coffee. But when I cut that out and it didn’t improve, I thought, ‘All right, I better get this checked out,'” he said.

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Before Van Der Beek’s interview was published, the beloved actor wrote the following alongside a November 3rd Instagram post, “‘It is cancer…’ Each year, approximately 2 billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I’m one of them. There’s no playbook for how announce these things, but I’d planned on talking about it at length with People magazine at some point soon… to raise awareness and tell my story on my own terms. But that plan had to be altered early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid was going to run with the news.

“I’ve been dealing with this privately until now, getting treatment and dialing in my overall health with greater focus than ever before. I’m in a good place and feeling strong. It’s been quite the initiation, and I’ll tell you more when I’m ready.

“Apologies to all the people in my life who I’d planned on telling myself. Nothing about this process has occurred on my preferred timeline… But we roll with it, taking each surprise as a signpost, pointing us toward a greater destiny than we would have discovered without divine intervention,” he continued. “Please know that my family and I deeply appreciate all the love and support.”

Colorectal cancer happens when polyps are not removed and become cancerous. It can take up to 10 years for a colon polyp to become cancerous, according to SurvivorNet experts.

“We know that colon cancers can be prevented when polyps are found early,” Dr. Heather Yeo, a surgical oncologist who specializes in colorectal cancers at Weill Cornell Medicine, told SurvivorNet.

“Lowering the screening age helps somewhat with this, but access to care is a real problem,” Dr. Yeo added.

Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal cancer surgeon and Director of the Cedars-Sinai Colorectal Cancer Center, previously explained the colonoscopy procedure to SurvivorNet.

“When we see a polyp, we actually physically take the polyp out through the colonoscope,” he explained. “What does that mean? That means we basically put a wire through with a little bit of a flange at the end, and we pull the polyp out. Now, note there is no pain with that. Inside the colon, there are no pain fibers. So, there’s no pain.”

The advantage of a colonoscopy is that your doctor can remove any polyps found during the test. Many colon cancers can be caught on colonoscopy before they develop or when the polyps are small enough to be removed without surgery.

Looking for Polyps During Colonoscopy

The American Gastrointestinal Association lowered the recommended initial age for a colorectal screening from 50 to 45.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends guidelines that state colon cancer screenings should begin at 45 years old. This is in response to the increase we see in colon cancer diagnoses in younger adults.

However, many insurance companies still do not cover the cost of screenings for those under 50. In the past, the disease had predominantly been found in adults 50 years or older, but for those predisposed to getting it at a younger age, these new guidelines could help catch it earlier.

Understanding Treatment Options

Although, Van Der Beek has chosen to keep the details of his colon cancer journey and treatment process private, it’s important to understand that your doctor has many ways to treat colon cancer, depending on what stage the cancer is, including:

• Surgery
• Radiation therapy
• Chemotherapy
• Targeted therapy
• Immunotherapy

Surgery

Surgery is the main treatment for most early-stage colon cancers, according to the doctors SurvivorNet spoke with. The surgeon will remove the part of the colon or rectum where there is cancer, along with a small area of healthy tissue around it. Taking out as much of the cancer as possible is important for improving your outcome.

The surgery may be performed through small incisions (laparoscopy), or through a larger incision. Some people may need to wear a special bag (ostomy) to collect wastes after surgery.

Deciding When to Operate on Colon Cancer

Radiation Therapy

This treatment aims high-energy x-rays at the cancer to destroy the abnormal cells. The radiation can come from a machine outside your body, or be placed directly inside your body. Sometimes people get radiation before surgery, to shrink the tumor and make it easier for the surgeon to remove. This is called neoadjuvant radiation.

Chemotherapy

This treatment uses strong medicine to stop cancer cells from dividing, no matter where they are in your body. You may get a combination of chemotherapy drugs as your first treatment. Chemotherapy has been very well studied for colorectal cancer, and it is known to improve survival.

The most common therapy is a combination of chemo drugs called FOLFOX:

• FOL = leucovorin calcium (folinic acid)
• F = fluorouracil
• OX = oxaliplatin

Your doctor may add medications like irinotecan (FOLFIRI) or cetuximab, depending on how well your tumor shrinks with treatment and other specifics about your particular cancer. For FOLFOX, the medications are given through the vein and require regular doctor visits.

To determine exactly which chemotherapy regimen you get, your doctor will consider your age and how well you might tolerate the side effects of chemotherapy. Gene mutations (for example, BRAF and KRAS) and the location of the primary colon tumor also factor into the decision.

You can also get chemotherapy before colon cancer surgery, which is called neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Getting chemo first helps to shrink the tumor, which can make both the surgery and recovery easier, according to SurvivorNet’s experts. Chemo is also a treatment for cancer that returns after therapy.

Targeted Therapy

This treatment targets substances like proteins or genes that the cancer needs to grow. This makes targeted therapy more precise than chemotherapy, and less likely to damage healthy cells. One example of targeted therapy is bevacizumab (Avastin), which stops the growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors. Another group of targeted therapies are called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors, which block the cancer from growing.

Immunotherapy

This treatment makes your own immune system a more efficient cancer fighter. A group of drugs called checkpoint inhibitors, which includes pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and nivolumab (Opdivo), work by preventing cancer cells from hiding from your immune system. Checkpoint inhibitors may extend the amount of time before the cancer spreads.

Dr. Paul Oberstein, on which treatments doctors use to turn stage 4 colon cancer into a chronic but manageable disease

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

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