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Recovery
WATCH: BBC presenter shares powerful mastectomy video diary
“This morning I had breast cancer. This evening I don’t!”
BBC PRESENTER VICTORIA Derbyshire has recorded a video diary about her mastectomy to help women dealing with breast cancer.
She underwent the procedure on 24 September.
Speaking from her hospital bed, Derbyshire says: “Today I had a mastectomy and I feel alright, I can’t believe it … The NHS staff have been awesome. I’m completely in awe of them, they are so inspiring and so caring, and I feel so grateful to them.
“When I woke up from the anesthetic I did cry because it was just such a relief. The malignant tumour in my right breast is gone and two or three lymph nodes are gone.”
“This illness does not have to be elevated to some uber-powerful status. It’s simply an illness … For what it’s worth, I don’t feel that I’m battling cancer … I am simply being treated for cancer.”
The presenter said she wanted to speak out as more than one in three people will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life.
Having cancer is manageable, it can be manageable. Having a mastectomy is totally doable. I didn’t know those things until I got cancer, and that’s what I want to tell people.
Derbyshire will return to work on 20 October, but will have time off for further treatment.
The diary aired on BBC 2 this morning. You can watch the full video here:
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