Alicia Witt Reveals She Was Battling Cancer Amid Her Parents' Death

Alicia Witt
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Witt's parents died in December after freezing to death in their Massachusetts home.

Alicia Witt is opening up about her private battle with cancer. The Walking Dead actress took to Instagram on Wednesday to reveal that she completed chemotherapy two months ago and had been undergoing treatments for the disease amid her parents' tragic death in December.

In the celebratory post, the 46-year-old actress shared videos of the moment she struck a gong to signal the end of her treatments as well as a photo of her holding her official certificate. She also posted a selfie as well as photos in which she removed the protective head and chest coverings she wore while receiving treatments.

"Just a little over 2 months ago, i had my last round of chemical therapy prior to my mastectomy," Witt wrote alongside the set of images and videos.

She went on to thank her team of doctors at Tennessee Oncology, who were by her side as she rang the bell.

"Although we didn’t yet know for absolute certain until after the mastectomy that the disease was completely healed from my left breast, this marked the end of my carboplatin/taxotere, + herceptin/perjeta (the latter two are immunotherapies which will continue, per protocol for HER2+, through the end of this year)," Witt shared.

She also thanked her "tiny crew of human angels" for helping her get through all six treatments and helping her change her therapy cap to  not only prevent hair loss but also keep her diagnosis private until she was fully healed.

"I had a tiny crew of human angels surrounding me for all 6 treatments, not only keeping my spirits high, but tending to and changing my @penguincoldcapsglobal. while keeping hair was obviously the last of my concerns on a larger level, i did deeply wish to keep my diagnosis private until it was 100% healed, god willing," Witt explained.

Adding, "I’m so grateful to all those along the way during treatment who honored me by protecting my privacy during these months 🙏🏻 and grateful to help share that these caps can truly play a huge role in allowing a patient to reveal her journey on her own time, when she is ready."

Witt said that being able to keep the news private allowed her to heal while simultaneously dealing with the loss of her parents, something she said happened at the start of her treatments.

"For me, this was such a needed part of my healing - particularly given the horribly public tragedy that had happened in our family just as i was beginning my treatments," she continued. "I will post more about the caps a bit later on! not pictured are cold cap MVPs @franflinnpatton @vanessacoffey @lotuseye; pictured are @paulakayhornick @hayzmom @theerincahill @paulfreemanreal ❤️😇."

In February, death certificates obtained by The Telegram & Gazette determined the cause of death for Robert Witt, 87, and Diane Witt, 75, was "probable cardiac dysrhythmia" due to the cold.

The Worcester, Massachusetts Clerk's Office confirmed Robert and Diane's cause of death to ET, noting that the couple died on Dec. 20.

Robert's cause of death was determined to be probable cardiac dysrhythmia in a person with a history of coronary artery disease, hypertension and multiple myeloma with terminal exposure to the cold, while Diane's was probable cardiac dysrhythmia with terminal exposure to the cold.

Witt announced that her parents were found dead in their Massachusetts home in December. The tragic discovery came after Witt had asked a cousin who lived nearby to check on them after not hearing from them for some time.

Witt spoke out about her parents and their sudden deaths for the first time, one month after their tragic passing.

"It still doesn't feel real," Witt started her post. "It's been a month since I got scared, not having heard back from them, and called to have them checked on. Waiting, phone in hand, praying fervently that the next call would be from them, angry I’d gotten someone else involved. Knowing as soon as I heard the detective’s voice on the other line that they were gone. Knowing I would never hear their voices again. Beginning the rest of my life of finding them on the breeze, in a song, in a dream."

The actress also revealed at the time that she was able to "quietly travel to Worcester earlier this month for a beautiful service and burial, to mourn and to celebrate them in total privacy." But while her parents insisted on total privacy, Witt said that privacy's been "stripped away."

Concluding her January post, the actress recalled some of her final conversation with her parents.

"Our last words to each other were 'I love you,'" she said. "That part was simple; never in doubt. They loved me so. I loved them so."

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