Busy Philipps 'acutely aware' of her privilege in getting life-saving body scan

Busy Philipps is "acutely aware" of her privileged position in being able to afford the health scan that detected her rare brain tumour.

Earlier this week, the Dawson's Creek star revealed to People that she underwent a Prenuvo scan, a full-body MRI that checks for more than 500 conditions, on 12 February, despite having no symptoms and her primary doctor insisting her routine tests were normal.

The scan showed there was a lesion on her brain, and she subsequently had a grade 2 oligodendroglioma, a rare slow-growing tumour, removed on 2 March.

The 47-year-old posted an update on Instagram on Thursday, thanking her fans for their love and support, and in the comments, one user pointed out that most Americans can't afford the elective scan and only rich people can stay on top of their health.

Responding to the message, Busy wrote, "Oh i'm acutely aware that even being able to afford to put this on my cc (credit card) was a privilege most people can't afford. it's insane how much is spent on healthcare and so little of it is on preventative care like this scan."

The actress noted that most of her friends and family cannot afford to spend $2,500 (£1,800) - the starting price - for the whole-body scan.

"Trust me i get it," she continued. "But i also felt like i needed it, and i think that's also why i wanted to talk about this - i followed my gut instinct and it saved my life. but yes - healthcare is f**ked in this country and its (sic) deeply unfair that we have to fight to get care and that your income can determine your health outcome."

After undergoing the operation, the Cougar Town star found herself back in hospital a month later after contracting a staph infection, which was treated during a second surgery.

Busy shared a series of photos and videos from her difficult six months on Instagram on Thursday and assured fans she was fine now.

"Just to reiterate, because the internet loves a clickbait, I AM ALREADY RECOVERED!" she declared. "You all have literally watched me recover since March 2, you just didn't know it! I AM TOTALLY FINE! YAY MEDICINE!"