Yahoo News BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Shirley Ballas fears she's 'worked herself to death' amid emotional cancer scare
Shirley Ballas has shared her fear she's 'worked herself to death' after recently sharing how she's undergoing a number of health tests. The Strictly Come Dancing star, who is head judge on the BBC One dance contest, shared a photo of herself on social media last week after undergoing a biopsy following a routine mammogram.
Taking to her Instagram Story, the 63-year-old shared a picture in which she appeared to be showing a bandage on her chest. She explained: "Urging all women do not miss your mammogram. I went for mine. Ended up going for a second one and a biopsy. Local anesthetic biopsy done. Now waiting for results..."
It is then when she included Strictly dancer Amy Dowden, who was last year diagnoses with breast cancer before undergoing a mastectomy and chemotherapy treatment, as she added: "@Amy_Dowden you ran through my mind the importance of not putting it off. Go and get tested, plus self-breast check regularly xx." Amy then responded: "Always here for you! Important message here all from @shirleyballas."
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Now, Shirley has revealed she's had three biopsies and also says her biggest fear is that she will die before her 87-year-old mother, Audrey. There is also a history of cancer in the TV star's family as Audrey was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2018, but is now in remission, and Shirley’s grandmother, grandfather and aunt all had the disease.
She has shared how she would often check herself but was alarmed when doctors told her they had discovered something unusual - and needed to take a tissue sample after she underwent a 3D mammogram. She says she is determined to keep herself busy in order to avoid thinking about potential health issues.
Opening up about her health scare, Shirley, who had her breast implants removed in 2019 to make it easier for doctors to spot cancer, told The Sun on Sunday: "It’s been terrifying, to have the needle go in your body to numb it before the biopsy. Every time the phone rings, I think, ‘Oh, maybe they are my results’."
She admitted: “I’m worried I’ve worked myself to death. It’s been terrifying, to have the needle go in your body to numb it before the biopsy. I feel very emotional. I’m not the same at work at the moment, so I’m teaching, but it’s constantly on my mind."
Shirley explained that fellow Strictly star Amy encouraged her to get herself checked as the 33-year-old, who was recently told there was 'no evidence of disease' but wouldn't get the all-clear from cancer for five years, urged the judge not to forget to get a mammogram.
"My dear student and friend Amy said to me, ‘You must never miss a mammogram’'," Shirley recalled. "So when this particular invite came in I could have put it off until the summer when it is a bit quieter. But I’m glad I didn’t. I did it at a mobile NHS unit in a Sainsbury’s car park, and three days later they called me back to go into King’s College Hospital in Camberwell. I was shocked as I do self checks, and I’d had a self check with another nurse a few weeks before for something else and she didn’t feel anything. But the mammogram scanners can pick up small abnormalities.
"So I went to the hospital and the doctor said, ‘I don’t want to alarm you but we found something and we’re not sure what it is." She went on to urge other women not to miss out on getting mammograms or smear tests. While she acknowledges that some women might feel embarrassed about visiting a doctor for such tests, she declared: "We’re our own beautiful machine, and we need our MoT. Check your body, check your breasts. It might save your life."
