Emmy winning costume designer Janie Bryant was knee deep in the Taylor Sheridan universe last spring when she started experiencing “weird stomach aches.” The jabbing pains were sometimes followed by vomiting, leading Bryant to brush it off as food poisoning or possibly irritable bowel syndrome.
“Then I did like a little research and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m anemic,’ because when you’re anemic, you can throw up sometimes or have jabbing pains,” Bryant explained on the latest episode of Lisa Guerrero Unleashed, hosted by her close friend. She tried copper and other remedies to no avail. “When I got to Montana, I was like, ‘OK, enough is enough. I got to go see a GI specialist.’ When I went in for my appointment, the doctor said to me, ‘Oh, you probably have an ulcer, but let’s do a colonoscopy and also let’s find out what’s going on.’ As I was coming out of sedation, my doctor, Dr. Walsh in Bozeman, looked at me and said, ‘Janie, you’re really sick.’”
Dr. Walsh confirmed to Bryant that she had a tumor that needed to be removed immediately. At the time, Bryan said she was juggling work on Sheridan shows The Madison, Dutton Ranch and Landman. So she sent an email to her boss Sheridan and other colleagues that she was dealing with some “personal issues,” declining to go into detail. “I felt like this was nobody’s business,” Bryant said, adding that she didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her. “That energy is not healthy; that is low vibrations. That is not what I need. I need people to be feeling brave and feeling strong for me and having that energy around it.”
Bryant continued that she wanted to get in the mindset of talking directly to her cancer, “‘Cancer, thank you so much for showing me where I need to heal myself.’ It is about thanking and giving praise to it and loving it and all of those things, to have that kind of energy going to your body, to all your cells.”
For treatment, Bryant returned to Los Angeles where she “found amazing doctors and nurses” to help with the removal of the tumor, which she said was localized. During surgery, they removed her entire colon. Guerrero praised her friend for exhibiting strength and resilience across the entire cancer journey. “You were such a warrior in every way. I remember just looking at you and you were so frail and had lost so much weight, but you had a big smile on your face and you’re like, ‘Yes, I’m going to go to these appointments and I’m going to get through it,’” Guerrero said. “I didn’t cry in front of you, but it was hard to see you like that. And the fact that you were able to just with such dignity and grace get through that and continue working… because I mean, in all honesty, your strength during all this was inspiring.”
