Actor Lee Hye-young has shared photos of her lung cancer surgery scars and spoken candidly about her recovery.
On Wednesday, Lee posted on her social media, writing, "It's been a long time. I wasn't sure I'd be able to come back like this."
Reflecting on five years of battling illness, she said, "So much disappeared during that time, and so much that was new came into my life. I learned that simply being healthy is its own form of happiness."
She added that everyday moments — what she ate, where she walked, what made her laugh — now fill her with gratitude, things she once took for granted. She also announced the launch of a personal YouTube channel Thursday, saying, "Come and meet a more honest Lee Hye-young, not the glamorous one you knew."
In a video she released, Lee opened up about the aftereffects of her lung cancer surgery. She showed the scar along her side from the procedure, along with chest X-rays documenting her recovery.
"As the surgical site developed adhesions, the pain continued, and the effects even spread to my eyes," she said.
She went on to say, "My veins weakened from so many injections, and needles wouldn't go in easily, so scars have built up all over my body. It's been so hard and it hurts, but I will overcome this and do my best. I'm going to step back out into the world."
Lee was first diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer in 2021 and has been managing her condition since. She later appeared on MBC's "Radio Star," where she said she had undergone a lung resection without chemotherapy and was under follow-up observation.
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