Actress Malandra Burrows has revealed she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The former Emmerdale star is undergoing treatment after having a stage three tumour removed and is set for six months of chemotherapy.
Malandra, best known to soap fans as Kathy Glover in the ITV soap, was told by medics she had cancer in February after she found a lump while she was exercising.
Talking to OK, she said she is sharing her diagnosis to raise awareness - and she's ready to fight.
"I’ve kind of gone into combat mode. If I look back, I’ve given it everything I can and that’s all I can do. I hate to say it, but when it’s your life at stake you’re prepared to do everything to get through. That’s helped me focus,” Malandra said.
Malandra wasn't concerned about the lump at first but after a few days rang her GP, and she was asked to visit within the hour.
She was told it was a cyst a week later while she was at hospital but a follow-up scan and ultrasound revealed the devastating truth.
She was greeted by a Macmillan nurse on her next visit, when she went for the results of her scan and ultrasound - so she knew what was coming
"She nearly broke down telling me, but I just went, ‘Don’t be daft! We’ll get through it and I’m going to ring that bell [to celebrate the end of treatment],’”Malandra said.
Malandra starred in Emmerdale from 1985 to 2001 and made a brief return in 2005.
She explained she hasn't cried about her diagnosis as she had time to prepare herself for the news, but her body did "involuntarily had a breakdown."
"I didn’t feel like I was breaking down, but I just couldn’t eat or do anything. There was something in the back of my mind that knew what was going on inside my body,” she said.
Malandra, who was a contestant on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here in 2006, said the menopause could have caused the cancer, because of the increase in oestrogen and the hormonal imbalance it brings.
She won't be given a prognosis until she has completed the chemotherapy course, set to take place over six months.
Malandra, who has lost friends to breast cancer, was due to have a routine mammogram in 2020, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic.
She believes the cancer may have been spotted earlier if the appointment had gone ahead.
Now Malandra is urging women to get mammograms.
"Regardless of age, if something seems odd, speak to your GP," she said.
Kathy, who was married three times and dumped at the alter, saw lots of drama in her time, having been kidnapped, knocked down by a horse and trapped in a bus crash wreckage, to name but a few storylines.
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