After a double mastectomy and hysterectomy, Michelle Heaton admits she’s faced another trauma
Michelle Heaton has shockingly revealed that she’s been through another cancer scare, despite having had preventative surgery due to her high risk gene.
The former Liberty X star – who underwent a double mastectomy in 2012 followed by a full hysterectomy last year – was terrified to find two pea-sized lumps in her chest about five months ago.
It left the 35-year-old star stunned. Following her surgeries she thought that she’d be clear of cancer so she was naturally devastated to discover the worrisome lumps.
‘I think that you’re lured into a sense of security,’ says Michelle. ‘You’re given a very low chance of contracting breast or ovarian cancer as you don’t have much breast tissue or ovarian tissue.
‘I never fathomed getting cancer in those areas again. You almost feel like you’re bionic.’
Michelle is a carrier of the BRCA2 gene, which gave her an 80% chance of developing breast cancer and a 30% chance of getting ovarian cancer, so she opted to have the operations as a preventative measure.
The singer – who has daughter Faith, 3, and son AJ, 16 months, with husband Hugh Hanley – was so shocked by finding the new lumps that she waited two months before telling Hugh and simply blocked it out of her mind.
‘I played it down,’ she admits. ‘I put it to the back of my head. I just did not want it to be there.’
When she eventually saw a doctor after telling Hugh, Michelle learned that there was a 50 per cent chance the lumps could be cancerous. Results from a biopsy proved inconclusive.
A further biopsy in May was still inconclusive, resulting in a further waiting period that the mum-of-two admits was her ‘darkest time’.
‘I didn’t let the kids or my husband see me but it gets to the point you just sit by yourself and cry,’ she tells The Sun.
‘I’ve never done that through all the operations. I’ve always just got on with it. Going through menopause and the hormones, the not knowing about the lump was the worst time.’
Fortunately the lumps proved to be benign when a team of specialists examined the scans last month. Michelle now plans to check herself even more frequently following the frightening experience.
‘I know to be vigilant and not mess around and to always keep checking because you can never get rid of all the tissue,’ she explains.
‘I feel like a weight has been lifted. I feel like I needed to get rid of that negative energy and it’s gone through crying.
‘I needed the realisation I wasn’t bionic. I feel so positive now and I check myself every couple of days.’
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