Danielle Fishel on how she announced her breast cancer to husband, sons

Danielle Fishel is opening up about intimate moments from her battle with breast cancer.

The Boy Meets World alum, 43, recalled breaking the news to her husband Jensen Karp, and their sons in the Amy & T.J. podcast hosted by Amy Robach and T. J. Holmes Sunday.

“It was hard for me to have to tell my husband,” the actress said, noting that Karp's parents had already died.

“His mom died in 2022 from lung cancer, and she lived with us while she was going through chemo and through her cancer treatment.”

Then she shifted the focus to how her sons Adler Lawrence, 5, and Keaton Joseph, 3, coped with the initial loss two years ago.

“My oldest son, Adler, was 3 when she passed, and he was very close to her. And one of my big concerns when he asked, 'Where did grandma go? Why is grandma not here anymore?'” she said. 

The mother of two explained how she took their sensitivity into consideration and made sure the news doesn’t terrorise them too much about the little things such as a cold.

“My big concern was that if we tell him that she was sick, he's gonna think the next time he gets a cold that he's gonna die, or that the next time mommy or daddy is sick, he's gonna think we're gonna die,” she said. 

“And so I wanted to be honest with him about the fact that she had cancer and that cancer doesn't always mean that you die, but sometimes it does. And in grandma's case, that's what it was. And so when I was diagnosed, my fear was, I'm normally so honest with my kids, but I can't tell them I have cancer.” 

“I had a boo boo that I had surgically removed from my body, and they needed to be gentle with me.”

The actress concluded the discussion by revealing how she managed to look after herself without taking away their sweet moments.

“I told them I love our bear hugs and I love wrestling with you, but my boo boo means that I need to be gentle. So you need to hug me from this side and eventually, I'll get back to wrestling with you."

Fishel previously expressed her relief to People on how she was “thrilled to be alive” since her July 22 ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) diagnosis following a routine mammogram.