Marlyne Barrett Reveals She's in "Complete Remission" from Ovarian Cancer (DETAILS)
"I want to take in every moment," the Chicago Med star reflected. "I want to take in life in a rich way."
After her multi-year cancer battle, Chicago Med fan favorite Marlyne Barrett is in remission.
Just in time for an action-packed Season 10 Med, Barrett — A.K.A. Gaffney's beating heart RN Maggie Lockwood — has revealed that she has been in "complete remission" since July 2024, People reports. Barrett's fight against uterine and ovarian cancer was a grueling ordeal for the Chicago Med star. Following her diagnosis in July 2022, Barrett underwent 30 rounds of chemotherapy and several procedures during her road to recovery. But after happily claiming cancer-free status this year, Barrett is on cloud nine.
"I feel fantastic," Barrett revealed to the magazine. "It's a bittersweet celebration because you're getting to know yourself, post-such an experience. You're getting to know your body again, you're getting to know yourself, so you're celebrating with deep gratefulness."
Barrett shared that counseling sessions, massages, spa visits, and quality time with loved ones helped her achieve remission.
"I really made sure that I took care of my mental health in the process because I think my mental health is what kept me focused on the mission at hand, which was to care for you and make sure that you allow others to care for you too," Barrett explained. "And that's not something that just came naturally to me."
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During her two-year cancer battle, Barrett luckily had an anchor to help keep her grounded: her starring role as Maggie on Chicago Med, which she described to People as "life-giving."
Marlyne Barrett says Chicago Med was "life-giving" during her cancer treatment
"I don't think that people realize mobility means life," Barrett explained. "So as long as I was able to move, work, laugh at everybody's bad jokes. People were treating me like I was normal, even when my eyebrows were no longer present. It made the time fun, not necessarily having to think about [my health] all the time."
Barrett continued by explaining that the Med production team was willing to jump through whatever hurdles were needed to support Barrett on her road to recovery.
"I think the initial phone calls with production and the studio to get greenlit to work were some of the most special phone calls that I've ever made in my life," Barrett recalled. "It wasn't just, 'Hey Marlyne, can you work?' The question was, 'How do we support you in this?' Some of the tenderest questions that I've ever been asked by a corporation."
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"Life is just so much more precious," Barrett said while reflecting on the end of her health battle. "I want to take in every moment. I want to take in life in a rich way."
Watch Season 10 of Chicago Med on Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC or stream episodes the next day on Peacock.
