Now that actor Colin Egglesfield is officially cancer-free, he wants to inspire others who may be going through health crises.

The All My Children star, 46, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2006 just months after he began his role as Josh Madden on the soap opera, he told Fox News in a new interview.

He admitted when he first started to notice his symptoms, it wasn’t something he wanted to open up about. “It’s not something that men normally like to talk about, and for the longest time, I didn’t want to talk about it because it’s something very personal,” said Egglesfield.

“I just noticed that my left testicle had swelled up, and I went to see the doctor and he said that we needed to do some tests, ultrasound, a blood test. And they discovered that it was at a pretty advanced stage, and did the surgery and found that some of the cancer cells had gone through the veins and arteries to the kidneys,” he continued to tell Fox News.

A year into his initial diagnosis, Egglesfield shared, the doctors found that the cancer had spread to his other testicle despite going through surgery to remove it.

Luckily, Egglesfield recovered — and has turned his story into a call to action, now volunteering with St. Jude’s Children Hospital. Egglesfield shared that he is able to easily relate to the children and families going through similar treatments.

His work also inspired him to write his new book, Agile Artist: Life Lessons from Hollywood and Beyond, which details his health journey and was released in June.

“This was 13 years ago, so thankfully I am cancer-free,” he told Fox News in the new interview. “I feel like at this point in my life, it made sense to put it down on paper.”

In the book, Egglesfield said he talks about “how to go after what really matters to you in life,” and also overcoming “challenges.”

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