Marlyne Barrett has been diagnosed with ovarian and uterine cancer.
The Chicago Med actress, who plays Maggie Lockwood in the drama, opened up about her illness, revealing that she has been leaning on her family and co-stars since the news.
In a new interview, the 44-year-old explained that she underwent a hernia operation earlier this year but took a while to recover from it.
In July, two months after the procedure, doctors found a tumor on her uterus and ovary, which was the size of an American football – news that she described as ‘a shock to my womanhood’.
‘I didn’t believe them, but when they showed me the CT scan, I went, “Oh my word.” The first questions were, “Am I going to live?” I just fell into my husband’s arms. It still takes my breath away when I think about it,’ she recalled.
Doctors warned that Marlyne would need an ‘aggressive’ form of chemotherapy before going under the knife for a hysterectomy, but she ‘hunkered down’ and decided that she would ‘face it’.
The Wire star also turned her hair loss into a powerful moment, when she decided to shave her head in front of her children, twins Joshuah-Jireh and Ahnne-N’Urya – who she shares with husband Gavin Barrett.
‘I didn’t want to give the power to chemo,’ she said, via People Magazine. ‘My hair has always been an essence of beauty. But I took my own razor and I shaved my head. I did it in front of my babies so they’d see it was still Mommy. I wept, I wept, I wept. But it was a beautiful experience to do it in front of them.’
Marlyne has been a staple of our TVs for decades, previously appearing in Law & Order, Gossip Girl Damages, Kings and American Crime.
As well as this, she has also racked up credits on the big screen, including Hitch, Heist and Off the Black.
She joined the Chicago Med crew as Maggie in 2015, and has become a firm fan favorite, also popping up in the other programs in the same universe, Chicago Fire and Chicago PD.
Despite the treatment, Marlyne has continued to work and has changed her schedule up to meet her needs, starting her shifts earlier to ‘get her bearings’ on set.
Reflecting on her decision to return to set, the mom-of-two explained that this allows her ‘reprieve’ and brings her ‘a lot of joy’ at a time where she really needs it.
‘Work brings me a lot of joy right now,’ she said. ‘It brings me a lot of reprieve to think about something other than, “When is my next chemo shift?” and “How am I going to hug my children?’”
She is currently preparing for her third round of chemotherapy, but is taking things ‘one day at a time’.
‘It’s okay not to have it all together. You can’t tangibly hold onto fear. But I’m holding onto faith,’ she added. ‘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.’
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