The BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire has thanked NHS staff in a video diary recorded soon after she underwent a mastectomy to treat cancer.
In a short clip, which was posted on the Victoria Derbyshire Show’s Facebook site, Derbyshire holds up two pieces of paper with handwritten messages on them. “This morning I had breast cancer,” read on the first. “This evening I don’t,” read the second.
“I feel all right. I can’t believe it. The NHS staff have been awesome. I am completely in awe of them. They are so inspiring and so caring and I feel so grateful to them,” says Derbyshire from her hospital bed.
She adds: “I went under the anaesthetic at about quarter to eleven this morning and woke up at about quarter to three because I remember looking at the clock and thinking ‘the children will be coming out of school soon’ – my children.”
The full video diary will be shown on her BBC 2 show on Monday morning, according to the BBC website.
Derbyshire, who has presented on BBC radio and television, announced the news of the diagnosis in August. Doctors detected her condition the previous month.
Before starting her own morning news and current affairs programme in April, Derbyshire worked for Radio 5 Live, which she joined in 1998. She co-presented the station’s breakfast show with Nicky Campbell and later moved to its mid-morning programme.
Her current show, which airs on the BBC News channel and BBC 2 simultaneously, has been nominated for a National TV award for the best live magazine show.
Will be doing the programme as much as possible during treatment in the months ahead 2/2
— Victoria Derbyshire (@vicderbyshire) August 19, 2015
According to the charity Breast Cancer Care, 55,000 people in the UK are diagnosed as suffering from the disease each year, which equates to about one person every 10 minutes.
People with breast cancer can undergo one or a combination of the following treatments: surgery; radiotherapy; chemotherapy; hormone therapy; and biological therapy.
The treatment will depend on the individual circumstances but sufferers will typically undergo surgery first, before doctors try other types of treatment, if they are deemed necessary.
