Former 'ER' actress Maura Tierney has said she was paralysed with fear when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Speaking to Parade magazine about the day she found she had a lump she said "I was so, so scared of going to the doctor. I felt something, and my boyfriend at the time made me go. He said, 'You've got to take care of this,' because I was afraid. That's one thing I will say: Don't be afraid to go to the damn doctor. Just go!"
Tierney who played a nurse and later a doctor on the hit TV show for ten years, was diagnosed with cancer in June 2009. She had to drop out of the NBC show 'Parenthood'.
She continued "I was so lucky. I had insurance, I found a great team of doctors at UCLA, and I could afford not to work while I was getting treated. From the beginning my doctor told me, 'You're going to be okay,' and I chose to believe him. So there was always that in my head."
Tierney added "It turned out to be a more aggressive kind of cancer than they thought."
The 45-year-old actress is still receiving treatment and is set to take on a role in the legal drama 'The Whole Truth'.
