'I've got a shield of protection': Fergie opens up about her breast cancer struggle. Photo / Getty Images
'I've got a shield of protection': Fergie opens up about her breast cancer struggle. Photo / Getty Images
Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson has called her breast cancer an “enormous friend” which she views as a “shield of protection”, reports Daily Mail.
A few weeks ago, it was revealed that the Duchess of York, 63, had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone a single mastectomy at London’s King Edward VII’s Hospital.
While recovering at her Royal Lodge home in Windsor, where she lives with ex-husband Prince Andrew, she has felt the unwavering support of her family.
She said: “I really feel this is really exciting, about having this enormous friend with me, who is now my friend, to such a degree I feel like a shield, like I’ve got a shield of protection, because it feels like it’s definitely there to say, ‘We got this’.”
When the duchess recorded the episode, she admitted that she had been enjoying watching Wimbledon and had received loads of letters of support from people who had demonstrated an “outpouring of kindness”.
Fergie also confessed to believing in “manifestation” and “the power of positive thought”, going on to say that, “I think there’s no question to it”.
The royal also dived into the idea of resilience with her co-host and entrepreneur Sarah Thomson, saying she has no regrets in her life.
She added: “I’ve looked back and I learn. I move forward and I grow.”
“I am resilient and I’ve learned but I do not regret, and so that is why I’m deeply sorry if I caused terrible pain for millions of people, hundreds or thousands or whatever else I meant to have done.
“I am deeply sorry for that because that was purely unintentional, and ignorance at the time of making the wrong decision is ignorance.”
Prince Andrew and his bride Sarah Ferguson wave from a horse drawn State Landau to the waiting crowds as they leave Westminster Abbey in London, July 23, 1986. Photo / AP
Ferguson discovered the cancer around two months ago after a routine check detected something was amiss in the run-up to the Coronation.
In May, she had a mammogram appointment in London. Instead of getting good news, she was told that a “shadow” could be seen in the scan of her breast.
A close source revealed to Mail on Sunday: “Most people usually associate breast cancer with a lump but that’s not always the case.
“A lump can be detected by the patient, but this was a ‘shadow’, which can go undetected because it’s a wider spread of cancerous cells that can be picked up through screening.
Sarah Ferguson with the Queen's beloved corgis. Photo / @sarahferguson15
“In Sarah’s case, a biopsy was taken from the shadowy area of tissue and a few days later the results came back to confirm the diagnosis – breast cancer.”
Due to the size of the area, medical professionals ruled out a lumpectomy and Fergie was advised to have a single mastectomy, which would get rid of the cancerous cells found in her breast. The duchess was said to be taken aback by the decision, however she was set on going full steam ahead with the mastectomy, telling her friends that she had “no choice” but to go through with the operation.
Earlier this month, The Mail on Sunday shed light on the duchess’ exhausting experience, which saw her spend four days in intensive care where she was monitored regularly.
A friend close to Fergie revealed: “The surgery was very long – getting on for eight hours – and it was more involved than people think. Today, the message she wants to get out is that she is very grateful to those who saved her and she feels very lucky to be alive.
“Specifically, the duchess wants to thank the two incredible surgeons Christina Choy and Stuart James who carried out the operation and all the medical team who worked tirelessly to help her.”
