Sarah Ferguson almost cancelled the routine mammogram appointment that led to her breast cancer diagnosis.
Sarah Ferguson has undergone a mastectomy after the diagnosis
The Duchess of York, 63, was revealed at the weekend to have been diagnosed with the disease but has since undergone a mastectomy.
And the charity spokesperson - who has been helping cancer patients and children for years and has been a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust since 1990 and also founded Children in Crisis and Sarah's Trust - has admitted she was going to put off her appointment because she didn't feel like the journey on a "hot day".
Speaking on an episode of her 'Tea Talks with the Duchess and Sarah' podcast, which was uploaded just after the diagnosis was made public, Sarah recalled: “It was after a bank holiday, and I live in this area — in the Windsor area — and it was a hot day, and I didn’t feel like going to London. It’s easy to put it off — ‘I’ll do it next week.'"
Fortunately, her sister, Jane Ferguson Luedecke, persuaded her to go.
She continued: “I always normally do what she says because she gets so cranky. She said, ‘No, go. I need you to go. I need you to go.'”
A small shadow was detected by the mammogram and if she hadn't gone, she would have delayed the immediate attention it needed.
Sarah said: “Had it not been for that extraordinary, they put an injection in you, contrast and it shows the contrast, and it shows them where to go, if I hadn’t had done that … it was only a shadow.
“They wouldn’t have found out that it needs to be immediately sorted."
Sarah - who was reminded of her late father Ronald's battle with prostate cancer - is trying to remain positive.
She added: “I’m taking this as a real gift to me to change my life, to nurture myself,” she said. “To stop trying to fix everyone else.”
And she has vowed to get “super fit” as part of her recovery.
Her long-time friend Piers Morgan, 58, said moments after he read the news that Sarah had cancer that he texted her and she replied: “Time to heal and nurture me now!”
The former ‘America’s Got Talent’ judge added that Sarah also said: “Hopefully caught in time x thank you.”
Piers revealed the texts in his column for The Sun on Monday (26.06.23) night, in which he added about Sarah’s vow to look after herself in the wake of surgery: “It was the first time I’d ever heard her speak about the need to put herself before others, and it took a life-threatening moment to do it.
“It’s typical of her to instantly try to turn such a negative experience into a positive, but very untypical of her to suspend her astoundingly selfless instincts and focus instead on helping herself.
“I’m very glad she is though, because the world’s a better place with a healthy vibrant Sarah Ferguson in it.
“She’s one of my favourite people; incredibly kind and empathetic, absurdly generous, endearingly modest, hilariously fun-loving, and ferociously loyal.
“Yes, she’s flawed and prone to dropping massive clangers, but so are all my favourite people.”
Sarah said on ‘Tea Talks’: “Tomorrow I’m going in for a mastectomy... I have to go through this operation, and I have to be well and strong. And therefore, no choice is the best choice.
“I’m going to go out there and get super, super well – super strong.”
Sarah – who has daughters Princess Beatrice, 34, and Princess Eugenie, 33, with her 63-year-old former husband Prince Andrew – added how she was grateful for her diagnosis as it has forced her to focus on herself instead of other people.
She said: “I taking this as a gift to make real changes for myself and to nurture myself and stop trying to fix everyone else.”
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