Los Angeles, Jan. 10 (IANS): Actress Jane Fonda "really celebrated" her cancer remission.
The 85-year-old actress said that the chemotherapy treatment process "hit (her) hard" as she found out in December that the cancer was in remission, just days before her birthday, after she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma last September, reports aceshowbiz.com.
"It was right before my 85th birthday, so I really celebrated. Chemo hit me hard. It was the first time that I thought, 'OK, this is what most people experience'. Because the kind of chemo that I was taking wasn't so bad in the beginning," she said.
The 'Grace and Frankie' star went on to add that she thinks about death "a lot" and has done so for the last three decades, but explained that the concept of her own mortality makes her "feel better" about life, even though society is "afraid" of discussing it.
She told Entertainment Tonight, "I think about death a lot. I have done so for the last 30 years. I think that's a healthy thing to do. It's hard to live right if you don't think about death. It's a part of life. Other cultures aren't so afraid of thinking about death as we are.
"I spend a lot of time thinking about it and it's made my life a lot better. And when you get a cancer diagnosis, you think about it even more and you want to be sure you get the things done that you want to get done, so that when the time comes you won't have a lot of regrets."
Prior to her remission announcement, Fonda explained that death is a part of life and hoped to be an "example" to younger generations who may be afraid of getting older as she urged others to look after themselves.
She said, "Dying is part of life. I hope that I can be an example to young people so they won't be afraid of getting older. But you just have to take care of yourself, which I do even now. Even the days that I get chemo, I still do a workout. It's slow and not what it used to be, but still, I'm moving and keeping strong."