Jane Fonda has extra reasons to celebrate her 85th birthday later this month.
The 'Grace and Frankie' star got some good news in time for her Dec. 21 birthday—her cancer is in remission. In a statement shared on her website on Dec. 15, the 'Monster-in-Law' actress revealed that she can discontinue chemotherapy and called it "The Best Birthday Present Ever."
"I am feeling so blessed, so fortunate," she wrote. "I thank all of you who prayed and sent good thoughts my way. I am confident that it played a role in the good news. I'm especially happy because while my first 4 chemo treatments were rather easy for me, only a few days of being tired, the last chemo session was rough and lasted 2 weeks making it hard to accomplish much of anything."
Fonda shared in September that she was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Non-Hodgkin's is a cancer that begins in white blood cells and it affects the lymph system, which is part of the immune system, according to cancer.org.
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"Cancer is a teacher and I'm paying attention to the lessons it holds for me," the '9 to 5' star wrote on Instagram at the time. "One thing it's shown me already is the importance of community. Of growing and deepening one's community so that we are not alone. And the cancer, along with my age—almost 85—definitely teaches the importance of adapting to new realities."
And now that she's got a clean bill of health, the dedicated activist is back out there spreading her message that not even cancer and chemotherapy could keep her from sharing.
"I have health insurance and access to the best doctors and treatments," she wrote in September. "I realize, and it's painful, that I am privileged in this. Almost every family in America has had to deal with cancer at one time or another and far too many don't have access to the quality health care I am receiving and this is not right."
