Alicia Witt was dealing with the tragedy of her parents’ death right around the same time that she was starting chemotherapy for breast cancer, the Hallmark star revealed in a recent Instagram post.

She Was Just Beginning Her Treatments When Her Parents Died

In an Instagram post, Witt revealed that she used Penguin Cold Caps to help reduce her hair loss, so she had the freedom to reveal her cancer journey in her own time.

She wrote, “for me, this was such a needed part of my healing – particularly given the horribly public tragedy that had happened in our family just as i was beginning my treatments.”

Her message about the “horribly public tragedy” was referring to her parents’ death. Robert and Diane Witt were tragically found dead in their home on December 20 after Alicia Witt had asked a family member to do a welfare check on them. They died from “probable cardiac dysrhythmia” caused by cold exposure, Boston.com and Telegram & Gazette reported.

At the time, with so many questions surrounding her parents’ death, Witt shared publicly some of the struggles she had. She said her parents hadn’t let her inside their home in years and continually turned down her many offers to help, including times when she tried to convince them to move. She said she had begged and cried, asking them to let her help them move, but they always turned her down.

Witt wrote in a different social media post that on December 1, “i had my first of 6 rounds of chemical therapy: carboplatin, doxorubicin, herceptin and perjeta. thankful to god that this diagnosis (HER2 +) is now, rather than 25 years ago, when diseased cells with this protein receptor were considered hard to treat.” This was just a few weeks before her parents were found dead.

Witt said she received her diagnosis of HER2 breast cancer on November 4, when she was leaving for a friend’s birthday party. She also shared that she’s now healed of the cancer.

She wrote on Facebook: “friends, i am healing from a unilateral mastectomy. all of the tissue removed (as well as my blood) tested *negative* for any trace of remaining disease. the gratitude overrides any and all else.”

She Recommends Penguin Cold Caps for Anyone Having Chemotherapy

In her Facebook post, Witt wrote, “i used Penguin cold caps (with the required assistance of my human angels, who tirelessly and joyfully spent 10-12 hours with me every single treatment, keeping my head frozen!) and i was able to retain enough of my hair that i could continue to work, and made several appearances/performances, without needing to divulge anything.” she wrote.

Witt shared more details in her recent Instagram post.

She wrote that her last chemotherapy treatment was just a little over two months ago.

She said, “i had a tiny crew of human angels surrounding me for all 6 treatments, not only keeping my spirits high, but tending to and changing my @penguincoldcapsglobal.”

One of the close friends who helped her was Hallmark star Erin Cahill, whom she tagged in her post.

Stephanie Dwilson

Alicia Witt Reveals She Began Chemotherapy Just As Her Parents Died