Sarah Ferguson – the former wife of Prince Andrew – was recently diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer, according to a spokesperson for the Duchess of York. The disease was detected during a routine mammogram screening, and she underwent surgery right away, which was confirmed successful.
The 63-year-old mother of two and grandmother of three is now recovering and recuperating with her family as she continues to receive the best medical care. Her prognosis is looking good, and it appears they caught the disease in an early-enough stage – a reminder of the importance of routine scanning.
"The Duchess wants to express her immense gratitude to all the medical staff who have supported her in recent days. She is also hugely thankful to the staff involved in the mammogram which identified her illness,” her representative said on Sunday (June 25) – adding there were no initial symptoms or signs.
The representative also confirmed that the Duchess of York recorded an episode of her Tea Talks With the Duchess and Sarah podcast the day before her surgery. That episode was released on Monday (June 26) and Ferguson opened up about the diagnosis, surgery, and what it means for her moving forward.
She confirmed it was ‘only a shadow’ that showd up on X-ray scans and reiterated that there were no lumps or symptoms leading up to the diagnosis. She thanked all the doctors, nurses, and staff who comforted her. "It's just all very strong unity of facing an enormous fear, that you're not alone,” she said.
Sarah Ferguson went on to describe this experience as a wake-up call and is considering it a ‘real gift to change my life, to nurture myself.’ She’s focused on looking at the positives and believes it will allow her to accomplish what she has always wanted out of life, ‘which is to be super fit – mind, body, and soul.’
"This extraordinary position I'm in right now. It means there's no choice. I can't make another excuse. I have to go through this … and therefore, no choice is the best choice,” she continued in her podcast. Meanwhile, her co-host, Sarah Thompson, praised Fergie for staying strong throughout the discovery.
Sarah Ferguson Urges Everyone to Get Screened
Sarah Ferguson doesn’t want to be the only one receiving a wake-up call with her recent breast cancer diagnosis. In fact, she wants it to be a wake-up call for everyone – a steady reminder that cancer can happen to anyone and almost always comes without warning. With that said, it can be detected early.
"I didn't feel like going … easy to put it off, you know, I'll do it next week. [My sister] said no, go. I need you to go,” Ferguson said of scheduling her routine screening. "If I can talk about it publicly, then everybody, please, don't wait," she added – urging others not to put off or delay their routine screenings.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the world, officially overtaking lung cancer in that capacity in 2020. And while there are more than four million breast cancer survivors in the United States, the National Breast Cancer Foundation estimates that one woman dies every week from breast cancer.
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With nearly 300,000 women expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States in 2023, it’s extremely important we get screened regularly to ensure the disease is caught in its earliest stages – which gives patients the best chance at survival. Like Sarah Ferguson said – DON”T WAIT!
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