Sarah Ferguson is taking it ‘really easy’ and ‘doesn’t rush back’ to work after her breast cancer surgery, a royal expert has revealed.
The Duchess of York, 63, appears to be on her way to recovery after a successful mastectomy last month at King Edward VII’s Hospital in London.
Camilla Tominey – Associate Editor at The Telegraph – appeared on This Morning today and shared an update on her health.
Speaking to hosts Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle, the royal commentator explained: “I saw someone last week who knows her really well and I said ‘how is she?’
“It was a really big surgery for her breast cancer, and she talked about it, I believe on her podcast.
The 63-year-old Duchess of York – who was photographed for the first time after her diagnosis yesterday – appears to be on the road to recovery
“She was in surgery for eight hours and you know she’s taking it really slow and she talks on this podcast about, you know, it’s not really about ‘beating something’ or being brave.
“It’s just about dealing with what you have to deal with, taking it one step at a time, not rushing back.”
Sarah has since been recuperating at home in Royal Lodge, Windsor, where she lives with her ex-husband.
Yesterday she, the Duchess of York, was photographed for the first time since her mastectomy as she drove through Windsor with Prince Andrew.
Sarah and Andrew were married from 1986 to 1996 and together share daughter Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
On her Tea Talks with the Duchess and Sarah podcast, which came out last week, she discussed the diagnosis.
She said, “I think it’s really really exciting to have this huge friend with me, who is now my friend, to that extent I feel like a shield, like I have a shield of protection, because it feels like it’s there sure to say, “We got this.”‘
At the time the episode was taped, she said she enjoyed watching Wimbledon and had received hundreds of letters from people who had shown her an “outpouring of kindness”.
Camilla Tominey – Associate Editor at The Telegraph – spoke on This Morning today and shared an update on her health
The Duchess also said she believes in “manifestation” and “the power of positive thinking,” adding: “I think there’s no question about it.”
Sarah’s cancer journey began two months ago when a routine pre-coronation test first discovered something was seriously wrong.
In early May, Sarah attended an appointment in London for a mammogram. Instead of getting everything safe, as expected, the technician explained that a “shadow” could be seen in the chest.
A source close to the Duchess told the Mail on Sunday: ‘Most people usually associate breast cancer with a lump, but that’s not always the case.
‘A nodule can be detected by the patient, but this was a ‘shadow’, which can go unnoticed because it is a larger spread of cancer cells that can be picked up by screening.
“In Sarah’s case, a biopsy was taken of the shaded tissue and a few days later the results came back to confirm the diagnosis: breast cancer.”
Given the size of the area, a lumpectomy was ruled out and Sarah was strongly advised to proceed with a single mastectomy, which would eradicate the shadow of cancer cells across the breast.
Sarah was said to be devastated but determined to go through with a mastectomy as soon as possible, telling friends she had “no choice” but to go through with the operation.
In early May, Sarah attended an appointment in London for a mammogram. Instead of getting everything safe, as expected, the technician explained that a “shadow” could be seen in the chest. Pictured in April
Christina Choy was the surgeon who performed the mastectomy.
When it was done, consultant plastic surgeon Stuart James, once hailed by Tatler magazine as one of the top breast doctors in the country, took over and performed breast reconstruction using the “DIEP flap” technique. Coincidentally, Mr. James is known to Prince William.
In 2013, the heir to the throne visited an operating room at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, where Mr James explained the procedure of breast reconstruction.
The special procedure is so complex that only highly skilled surgeons should attempt it.
It involves making an incision in the abdomen and taking fat from the stomach to form a new breast.
Experts say this can take more than six hours because it involves a microvascular surgery in which delicate 2mm blood vessels are cut and then joined together.
But the Duchess underwent a major eight-hour operation while surgeons battled breast cancer.
This month, The Mail on Sunday revealed the full extent of her exhausting ordeal, which included four days in intensive care at the private hospital where the Duchess was monitored 24 hours a day.
A friend of the Duchess, who is now back at home, said: ‘The operation took a very long time – eight hours – and there was more to it than people think. Today she wants to say that she is very grateful to those who saved her and that she feels very lucky to be alive.
“The Duchess would like to give a special thank you to the two incredible surgeons Christina Choy and Stuart James who performed the operation and the entire medical team who worked tirelessly to assist her.”