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'Chicago Med' Star Marlyne Barrett Reveals She's Battling Two Types Of Cancer

WBLS Staff
09/29/2022 12:00 AM EDT
Actress Marlyne Barrett is living the reality that her fictional character, Maggie Lockwood on Chicago Med once lived as she battled breast cancer on the show’s fifth season. Now, the 44-year-old actress has revealed that she is currently battling uterine and ovarian cancer. She stated that she was diagnosed with the disease after doctors found a large tumor in her uterus and left ovary. “I’m an extremely private person, but I felt a responsibility to tell my story,” she said. “When my character went through breast cancer, I had a sea of people reach out to me through social media. They brought me courage, and so I felt a sense of inevitability to meet their hearts where they met me.” Barrett went on to say that after she had her hernia repaired, she wasn’t feeling like herself. “I had this accumulation of fluid in my abdomen that I couldn’t shake. I looked like I was nine months pregnant. And I also had shortness of breath, but no pain, which was interesting.” She later learned that it was the cancer that was making her feel that way. “The initial experience was a shock, a shock to my womanhood. I didn’t believe them, but when they showed me the CT scan, I went, ‘Oh my word.’ The first questions were, “Am I going to live?’ I just fell into my husband’s arms. It still takes my breath away when I think about it.” The veteran actress will undergo chemotherapy and have a hysterectomy as she faces her fears head on. “There’s no running from it because it’s my life. And eventually you just surrender because it’s so much bigger than anything you’ve ever faced. I found this courage and I just hunkered down and said, ‘I’m going to face this.’”We will keep Marlyne Barrett and her family in our thoughts and prayers.