James Van Der Beek Apologizes to Loved Ones Who Had to Learn of His Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis from Press: ‘No Playbook’

James Van Der Beek is expressing some pointed thoughts after revealing his colorectal cancer diagnosis.

In an Instagram post on Sunday, Nov. 3, the star, 47, who shared his health news exclusively with PEOPLE, apologized to his loved ones that had to learn about his diagnosis so suddenly via the media.

“It is cancer … Each year, approximately 2 billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I’m one of them,” Van Der Beek began. “There’s no playbook for how announce these things, but I’d planned on talking about it at length with People magazine at some point soon … to raise awareness and tell my story on my own terms. But that plan had to be altered early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid was going to run with the news.”

Detailing that he has “been dealing with this privately until now, getting treatment and dialing in my overall health with greater focus than ever before,” the actor continued, “I’m in a good place and feeling strong. It’s been quite the initiation, and I’ll tell you more when I’m ready.”