Agony Aunt Deidre Sanders has shared that she’s been diagnosed with breast cancer. The 77-year-old, who fans may be used to seeing giving advice to viewers on This Morning, is set to undergo surgery this weekend.
Deidre has told how her diagnosis came about after she wasn’t invited for her mammogram at 70 years old in 'error'. According to the government, when members of the public are 71 or older, they’re not automatically invited for breast screenings. This is despite being more at risk of getting breast cancer than younger women.
However, they can request one once every three years by contacting their local breast screening unit for an appointment. But Deidre explained that she wound up not having a breast screening for nearly 10 years, because she was "among a cohort of several thousand women who, by error, did not get invited for a mammogram when they turned 70."
Deidre sought advice from her GP last summer after she started 'feeling achy' and after realising that the tension she often feels in her shoulders had spread to her right breast. Two weeks before going on holiday, she spoke to a doctor about her concerns, before seeing an advanced nurse practitioner in person.
A mammogram and an ultrasound scan showed that something wasn't quite right and she was booked in for a biopsy for straight after her trip away, discovering that the cells were malignant. Writing in The Sun, Deidre explained how she has tiny carcinoma, a cluster of malignant cells in a duct in her right breast.
"This is labelled high-grade, which means it is the sort that would grow and spread aggressively — had it not been discovered so early," she wrote in the publication where she is there resident Agony Aunt.
She shared that she now had NHS surgery booked to remove the carcinoma this Saturday. Deidre shared how she told members of the This Morning team before hear appearance on the show last week. "'CANCER is such a scary word,' said Holly Willoughby, giving me a hug," Deidre penned.
Deidre is set to share her story on This Morning today (Tuesday) where she will be "urging all women to go for breast screening when invited, and women over 70 to use their right to request screening every three years."
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