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Grey's Anatomy actress Kate Walsh reveals she had a brain tumour

Kate Walsh is famed for starring in Grey's Anatomy

Kate Walsh
Sharnaz Shahid
Deputy Online Editor
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Grey's Anatomy actress Kate Walsh has revealed she was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour in 2015. In a candid interview with Cosmopolitan, the 49-year-old explained how she suffered from extreme exhaustion which prompted her to see a doctor. She shared: "My pilates instructor said, 'Hey, your right side is dipping.' And it didn’t feel like I was off, but I looked down and could see it. Then when I was driving, I started swerving into the right lane."

Grey's Anatomy actress Kate Walsh revealed she had a brain tumour in 2015

The American star added: "The exhaustion got to the point where I could drink five cups of coffee and still not feel awake or clear. And then around April, I started having more cognitive difficulties. It felt like aphasia, but it wasn’t just not being able to find words; I would lose my train of thought, I wasn’t able to finish sentences, and that was when I got really alarmed." Kate, who has also appeared in 13 Reasons Why and Private Practice, claimed she was diagnosed with "a meningioma the size of a lemon".

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"I really pushed to see a neurologist, I just had an instinct. I had to really advocate, because they don't hand out MRIs so easily, but I got an MRI and thank God I did, because it turned out I had a very sizable brain tumour in my left frontal lobe," she continued. "And three days later I was in surgery having it removed." Although the tumour was benign, Kate made sure she cut some of her work to help with her recovery. She explained: "I love to work hard and do 800 things at once, and this was a really amazing lesson in just submitting to the process of healing. I did exactly what the doctors told me to do, and asked tons of questions when I had them, and got lots of support, and just took my time."

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