Even Stevens actor Christy Carlson Romano shared a health update with her fans and got emotional as she said she recently received a positive result from a cancer screening test.
In an Instagram video, Romano, 41, said she and her husband underwent cancer screenings recently because of her family history. The mother of two said both of her parents had cancer.
“My mom beat it. My dad eventually didn’t. My grandmother on my mom’s side had lung cancer and died from that,” Romano said. “I got the results back a little bit before filming down in Florida. My husband’s came back completely negative. Mine did not come back negative.”
“So basically what that means is that I may have stageable cancer,” the Vulnerable podcast host added.
Romano said her next steps include a PET scan, which uses “a radioactive drug called a tracer to show both typical and atypical metabolic activity and can often detect diseases before the disease shows up on other imaging tests,” according to the Mayo Clinic.
The Kim Possible voice actor said she’s been fighting with insurance companies to receive coverage for the PET scan.
She became emotional as she spoke about the late actor James Van Der Beek, who died on Feb. 11 at the age of 48, just over a year after being diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer.
“I live in Austin and I was able to meet James Van Der Beek a bunch. His family’s amazing. He’s a pillar of our community in Texas. They were always raising money for the most amazing charities, and he’s not with us anymore,” Romano said through tears.
“Cancer is everywhere, which is why I got this test. I kind of was like in disbelief about it because I was filming and I was so happy to be back on set,” she continued. “I didn’t really want to think about it much until I got home and then I thought, ‘Oh, we’ll just do the PET scan.’”
Romano said it’s been a “very vulnerable time” for her and noted that it’s been “367 days since I got shot in the face,” referencing last February when she shared that she had been shot in the eye while shooting clay pigeons during her husband’s birthday celebrations.
“It’s time to have a strong sense of faith and know that it’s in God’s hands, most of it. I’m sure people think I’m overreacting, but I’m not, because cancer is pretty serious, and I have two little girls,” she said.
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Romano added that she’s taking life “a day at a time.”
“Really be grateful for like all the amazing stuff around you, and that’s why I always try to make jokes. I try to be funny not just because I’m trying to be light or stay relevant. I don’t share a lot, so when my book comes out, you’re going to find out a lot of stuff about me that you didn’t know,” Romano said of the upcoming release of her memoir.
Romano said she has “a loving family around to support me” and that she plans to “keep fighting for answers.”
Cancer continues to impact a larger number of people in Canada each year, a trend largely driven by the growing and aging population, according to a 2025 report from the Canadian Cancer Society.
According to the organization, two in five Canadians are expected to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and approximately one in four are expected to die of the disease. The four most commonly diagnosed cancers include lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancers.
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