Grey’s Anatomy star Kate Walsh reveals ‘very subtle’ warning sign ahead of brain tumour diagnosis
Topics: Grey's Anatomy, Health, Celebrity
Mia Williams
Featured Image Credit: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images
Topics: Grey's Anatomy, Health, Celebrity
Grey's Anatomy star Kate Walsh has opened up about the moment she was found to have a 'very sizeable brain tumour' after 'pushing' to get a diagnosis.
The 57-year-old actress, who plays Dr. Addison Montgomery in the hit ABC medical drama, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2015 after advocating for herself following a number of 'subtle symptoms'.
She recently made an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, where she shared the importance of pushing for a diagnosis when you feel things aren't right, and how it has changed her approach to health.
Explaining her first symptoms, Walsh said: "It was like, 'Hey, I'm really tired'.
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"And then it's like, ‘Oh, the right side of my body is dipping'."
When the star initially started to feel strange, she explained how dismissive people were of her symptoms.
"They're like, 'Oh, you're off.' I'm like, 'No'," she said.
"And then, walking the dog, I'm like, 'It must be a little bit of a windy street.’"
Trying to pin the signs on something else, she explained: "It was just sort of very subtle and then very kind of, 'Oh it's ADD. I can't really focus. Oh, I've been scrolling too much.' "That kind of stuff."
She spoke about the valuable lesson she had learned about putting difficult things off, and how important it is to stand up for yourself.
Walsh added: "I know how important it is to advocate for one's own health because people were like, 'You're just depressed.' It was right after [my TV show] Bad Judge got cancelled."
"Your show got cancelled. You're just depressed," she recalled people telling her.
"No, something's off," she responded.
The actress first spoke about her brain tumour, which was thankfully benign, in 2017 with Cosmopolitan.
Reflecting on that time in her life, she said: "I really pushed to see a neurologist. I just had an instinct.
"I had to really advocate because they don’t hand out MRIs so easily. But I got an MRI and, thank God I did, because it turned out I had a very sizeable brain tumour in my left frontal lobe."
When she received her diagnosis, the star recalled the feeling of 'leaving' her own body.
Walsh added: "My assistant had driven me there, and I had to go get him so that he could take notes because I was gone. It was never anything I would have imagined."
It was just three days after her scan that the Grey's Anatomy actress had surgery to remove the growth.
She also added that she has been 'really healthy' following her treatment.