‘I'm going to face this’: ‘Chicago Med’ star Marlyne Barrett reveals she has uterine and ovarian cancer
If you are a religious watcher of 'Chicago Med' then you would remember the time when Marlyne Barett's Maggie Campbell gets a mammogram and learns that she has metastatic adenocarcinoma or breast cancer but is later cured and she marries former cancer patient Ben Campbell? However, in her real life, she was silently battling cancer as well. The 44-year-old's doctors discovered a football-sized tumor on her uterus and left ovary in July.
The series actor recently revealed her diagnosis to People. The actress who has 11-month-old twins Joshuah-Jireh and Ahnne-N'Urya with her husband, pastor Gavin Barrett, said when she was starting to get ready to work she started feeling gnarly and exhausted after she had her hernia removed. She said, "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." The actress remembers questioning the longevity of her life thinking "am I going to live?" Read more to know how the tough-as-a-cookie Barett is taking one day at a time.
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After being scared of mortality and having to tell people, she took one day at a time with the unconditional love that she received from her husband. She said, "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."
She further went on to say, "I've had people shave their heads on set to support me." while fighting tears. Barett is known for being a "woman of faith" at work. Nonetheless, she remembers the episode when her character on the show takes the wig off and the women approached her at the hospital, and that particular scene made other women all across the world feel empowered and is acting like the same source of power for her.
In order to keep working, "I start an hour earlier to get my bearings before I start my day," says the actress, who also takes naps and occasional days off to keep up her energy. She adds, "because of the mass, my mid-range is a different size, so the costume department does an incredible job," says Barrett. "Interestingly enough, my character on the show already wears a wig!" And ultimately, "work brings me a lot of joy right now," she says. "It brings me a lot of reprieves to think about something other than, 'When is my next chemo shift?' and 'How am I going to hug my children?'"
Regardless of the dark clouds in her life, Barett is taking it "one day at a time" as she prepares for her third round of chemotherapy. However, as one cannot tangibly hold onto fear, she is "holding onto faith." Barett further continues by saying, "I find new strength to carry on every day because of [my children]. I want to see them get married one day and I will."
'Chicago Med' airs every Wednesday at 8.pm ET only on NBC.