Kelly Hoppen announced she was diagnosed with breast cancer after ignoring her mammogram letters for years.
The Dragons' Den star admits she was 'foolish' for blanking the reminders for a routine mammogram for eight years, before eventually getting checked out at an appointment. The interior designer, 63, has revealed that she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
Kelly, 63, has opened up about her own ordeal in the hopes of warning others against ignoring these invitations. The interior designer even admitted she would sometimes schedule appointments, but would 'foolishly' cancel before attending.
Writing in The Daily Mail, she said: "For eight years I ignored my routine invitations to have a mammogram. Writing this now, I can't believe my own stupidity. I was like a child plugging my ears with my fingers and singing to blot out the sound of something I didn't want to hear.
"It was a foolish thing to do, which is why I am writing this now: it's a cautionary tale, a warning to others, not to be too frightened, too harried by the demands of work to go to your appointments."
She continued: "One morning last September I woke up and resolved to have that long-overdue mammogram. I hadn't detected a lump; there were no warning signs. Perhaps it was just intuition, but something made me determined to finally go.
"Everything looked fine, they said, and I left feeling that lightness that overcomes us when a weight is lifted. But the relief was temporary. Two hours later they recalled me telling me they needed one more image of my right breast."
Kelly - who said her own mother had breast cancer at a similar age - was later told she had DCIS in two milk ducts and subsequently had cancer cells removed from the ducts.
She later had "precautionary surgery" to remove the tissue around the ducts and ensure the cancer hadn't spread. Kelly was "overjoyed" to find out the cancer hadn't spread, and after a check up last month received the all clear.
The TV personality admitted there is a 10-15% chance the cancer may return, but has come forward with her cautionary tale so others don't make the same mistakes as her. "I wanted to wait until I was completely sure that I was out of the woods before I told my story, and I'm doing so now to encourage other women never to miss a screening," she said.
"My own foolishness will stay with me. Now, I intend to get checked twice a year. And I'd urge other women to follow my example. Never think you're invincible. Never be too scared."
She added: "Now it is over, I feel relieved, but each day when I wake up and see the scar on my right breast I wonder about what might have been if I had not gone for that mammogram. And I remind myself to be positive and that stress needs to be managed."
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