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Anne Diamond has revealed she has been diagnosed with breast cancer
The GB News presenter, 68, said she had received the diagnosis the same day as finding out she was to be made OBE.
Speaking to GB News’ the broadcaster shared that she had undergone a double mastectomy in her “fight against breast cancer” – which she described as “a long journey”.
“I haven’t been on a world cruise, which is what I know social media has been saying,” she said.
“It’s been a fight against breast cancer. It’s been a long journey. And five months later, I’m still not at the end of the journey, but I’m through it enough to come back to work.”
Diamond was made OBE in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to public health and charity.
“It was a wonderful moment and that was like 9.30 in the morning,” she recalled.
“But I knew then, because I’d already seen my GP, that I had to go to a breast cancer screening thing later in the morning. I thought I would just go for a mammogram, and a couple of tests and I’d be free in an hour.
“I spent the entire morning at my local hospital where they did everything, biopsies, X-rays, CT scans, a couple of mammograms, everything, and by lunchtime I was still there.
“And a lovely lady came with a lanyard around her neck that said MacMillan Cancer Care and I knew then it was serious.”
Diamond added that she did not have advice for others as she was “still going through it”.
“I had the full works, the full mastectomy,” she explained. “This is the first time I’ve talked about it, so it’s quite difficult but I’ve had the full works. The first operation I had was nine hours long.
“I’ve had a load of radiotherapy, which I found very hard too.
“So it’s been a journey, but I’m not pretending for a minute that I am extraordinary, because I am fully aware that a quarter of women in this country are going through what I’ve just gone through and I don’t have any advice to give.
“I only have empathy.”
Breast cancer symptoms
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK. According to charity Coppafeel!, symptoms include:
- Changes in skin texture (including puckering and dimpling)
- Swelling of the armpit and around the collarbone
- Lumps and thickening around the breast
- Constant or unusual pain in the breast or armpit
- Nipple discharge
- A sudden or unusual change in size or shape
- Nipple inversion or nipples that change direction
- A rash or crusting of the nipple or surrounding areas
