Actress Busy Philipps, 47, has revealed she underwent surgery earlier this year to remove a rare brain tumor. Philipps shared photos and details of her recovery, including time spent in intensive care, on Instagram, reassuring her followers that she is "totally fine."

The tumor, a grade 2 oligodendroglioma, was discovered in February during a full-body MRI scan. Philipps had no symptoms of the slow-growing tumor, which affects an estimated 1,100 to 1,300 people annually in the U.S. The actress was inspired to undergo the scan after reading about it on Instagram.

Philipps' MRI appointment was initially scheduled for January but was postponed due to a blizzard. It ultimately took place on February 12, the day after her co-star James Van Der Beek's death from colon cancer at age 48. Initially considering canceling the scan amid her grief, Philipps proceeded after encouragement from her ex-husband, Marc Silverstein, who suggested her friend would have wanted her to prioritize her health.

Diagnosis and Surgery

The scan revealed a lesion on her brain, and while glioblastoma was quickly ruled out, a follow-up MRI confirmed it was a tumor that needed to be removed. Philipps described the moment she learned the lesion was a tumor as "hyperventilating and trying to breathe."

In early March, Philipps underwent a five-hour procedure to remove the 2.6 cm tumor. Her daughters, Birdie, 17, and Cricket, 13, were informed of the diagnosis. Philipps recalled reassuring her eldest daughter that she would not die in her senior year of high school and telling her younger daughter that she would be fine.

Recovery and Complications

Following the surgery, Philipps experienced an infection in her incision site, contracting staphylococcus. This led to a second surgery in April to clear the infection, which she described as setting her back and making her feel like she was "back to square one."

Philipps has since reflected that some of her "extreme emotional reactions" over the past couple of years may have been due to the tumor pressing on her frontal lobe, rather than perimenopause as she had previously assumed. Her friend and Dawson's Creek co-star Michelle Williams noted Philipps' recurring statement that her "brain feels broken," which now seems to have a biological explanation.

Philipps stated that she had been updating close friends and family on her condition via Instagram's "Close Friends" feature over the past six months to shield her daughters from public discussion of her health. She also had to return to filming her new show, "Cuppertino," just four and a half weeks after her initial surgery.

Ongoing Monitoring

The tumor was biopsied and found to be malignant, though it has a good prognosis among malignant gliomas. Philipps will not require chemotherapy or radiation but will undergo regular scans to monitor for any recurrence. Her doctors are optimistic about her chances of not having a recurrence.

Philipps expressed gratitude for having proceeded with the MRI scan, even when she did not have a job and questioned the expense. She previously hinted at her health issues in a March 19 Instagram post, describing the preceding 2.5 weeks as "literally the weirdest ... of my life."