Comedian Park Mi-seon returned about a year after battling breast cancer and opened up about the course of her fight.
On the 12th, Park Mi-seon appeared on the tvN variety show You Quiz on the Block and said, "I came to file a survival report," sharing an update after a long time.
Appearing with short hair, Park said she had shaved her head due to chemotherapy and joked, "I worried my bold look might surprise people, but I came out with courage. Don't I look like a designer who studied abroad in Italy?"
She said she was diagnosed with breast cancer through a health screening last year. Park Mi-seon said, "I had surgery on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve. When they opened me up, the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes," and explained, "After 16 rounds of radiation therapy and chemotherapy, I am currently on medication."
Park calmly described the pain she endured during treatment. "I was getting treated to live, but I felt like I was going to die," she said. "After starting chemo, I lost my voice and the feeling in my fingertips and toes. I broke out in hives all over, and blisters formed to the point my skin was peeling off."
She said the most dangerous moment was pneumonia. Park Mi-seon said, "During the fourth round of chemo, I came down with pneumonia, my fever wouldn't go down, and I was hospitalized for two weeks. My family was very worried."
She is now recovering, and said, "The reason I appeared today is that I hope many people can find hope. If breast cancer is found through early screening, the cure rate is high."
She added, "I had no other symptoms, but I was so tired. I was drowsy even during shoots," and said, "That was a sign, but I ignored it and kept pushing myself to work." She also smiled and said, "Now I'm going to live without making plans. Even if I don't know what next year will bring, I want to live, taking breaks as things flow."
Debuting in 1988, Park Mi-seon has been loved for a long time while working across genres such as comedy, talk shows, and sitcoms. "In 38 years, I only took a month off after having my first child and a month or two after having my second," she recalled. "I ran as if broadcasting was my workplace, and looking back, it really felt like a flash of lightning."
When she stepped down from all programs due to deteriorating health last year, rumors of a "serious illness" spread. Regarding this, Park Mi-seon said, "As acquaintances' words became articles, people seemed to think, 'She must be about to die,'" and added, "So after recovering, I wanted to greet people in person through 'You Quiz.'"