Julia Bradbury took to Instagram on Thursday to promote Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, while sharing an update on her own battle with breast cancer.
The TV presenter, 51, who announced her diagnosis in September 2021 and underwent a mastectomy a month later, looked downcast while sitting in a doctor’s office.
In a lengthy post to the social network, she admitted ‘every day can be tough’ before confessing she ‘knows the ups and downs of every appointment’.
‘I know the ups and downs of every appointment’: Julia Bradbury looked downcast while sitting in a doctor’s office as she admited ‘every day can be tough’ in her latest breast cancer update
Open book: She began: ‘To everyone on a cancer journey right now… I know it’s difficult’
She began: ‘To everyone on a cancer journey right now… I know it’s difficult. I know the ups and downs of every appointment and every day can be tough, but we humans are resilient & there is some amazing support out there for us all.
‘Thank you @maggiescentres for all your safe comfortable spaces to talk or just be.
‘Thank you @ovariancanceraction for all your research into the silent killer that is ovarian cancer. It’s #OvarianCancerAwarenessMonth – see my post from yesterday about symptoms to look out for & join their #WalkInHerName step challenge ����
‘Thank you @futuredreamscharity @pinkribbonfoundation @preventbreastcancer @oriordanliz @owisebreast @breastcancernow @macmillancancer @blackwomenrisinguk @brcasisters @draindollies.
Brave: The TV host, 51, who announced her diagnosis in September 2021 before undergoing a mastectomy, took to Instagram on Thursday to promote Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
‘And all the other breast cancer charities for your support & community connections. Sending love [heart emoji].’
‘Keep your face toward the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind you. —Walt Whitman.
‘#cancer #awareness #community #support #charities.’
It comes after the Countryfile host said she has been ‘re-evaluating her diet and lifestyle’ since battling breast cancer.
Candid: In a lengthy post to the social network, she admitted ‘every day can be tough’ before confessing she ‘knows the ups and downs of every appointment’
Julia confessed to coming to the realisation she’d ‘let her sugar addiction creep up on her.’
Alongside an playful photo pretending to eat a knitted cake, the Britain’s Best Walks host got straight to the point, telling her 203,000 followers: ‘I’ve always had a sweet tooth & felt lucky that I could eat the doughnuts, dunk the biscuits every day & snaffle the brownies, without putting on weight.
‘Since my breast cancer diagnosis I’ve been re-evaluating my diet & lifestyle & I realise that I’d let my sugar addiction creep up on me.
‘A treat is a treat, but loading up on refined sugar every day, just isn’t healthy – whatever your weight. And it’s not easy to avoid – sugar is hidden in foods under so many names.’
Scan: The Countryfile host previously shared a photograph of her breast on the hospital monitor along with a lengthy caption detailing the type of ‘dense’ breasts she has
The caption’s proceeding paragraph set out to advise her followers to ‘Always read the ingredients list’ and proceeded to list various types of sugars to look out for.
Julia wrapped up the post by giving her fans some food for thought, writing: ‘Eating lots of refined carbohydrates, including foods with added sugar, can lead to obesity. Obesity – having too much body fat is a clear risk factor for cancer.
‘Body fat promotes inflammation, which can damage DNA and lead to cancer & other diseases A good rule of thumb is to eat the healthiest diet you can (balanced/varied) 80% of the time and save the treats for the remaining 20% ❓Are you addicted to refined sugars? #health #food #lifestyle #diet #sugar #addiction #balance #healthy #healthygut #variety #wholefoods’.
The mother-of-three was inundated with support from her fans following the candid upload.
‘Sometimes you just feel overwhelmingly sad’: Despite trying to stay positive, Julia was also honest with her followers when she posted a sombre looking selfie with tears in her eyes
One sent their ‘healing and blessings’, with a second commenting, ‘it’s so nice to see you looking good’.
Earlier this month, Julia returned to This Morning, four months after her mastectomy and revealed her ‘healing is going very well’ as she continues to battle breast cancer.
The TV presenter told hosts Alison Hammond and Rochelle Humes: ‘Today I was ready!’ as she appeared down the line from the This Morning’s Forest.
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Julia – who was unveiling the new ‘Plant A Tree’ campaign – was asked by the show’s hosts if she felt ready to be back at work, to which she responded with a smile.
She said: ‘First of all I wanna say thanks to the whole of the This Morning team – you’ve been checking in with me regularly to check how I’m doing.
‘And it is lovely to be back and you’ve been sending me little messages saying “are you ready? are you ready?”
‘And, today I was ready because it’s a beautiful morning in the forest and I wanted to help give away these trees. The doctor said “yes it’s alright”.
‘I’m recovering. I had a mastectomy a couple of months ago. I’ve been having lots of physio and lots of treatment. My healing is going very well thank you.
‘I’m taking this opportunity to suck in the green therapy. And I’m going to go for a little walk around the forest when we’ve finished here this morning.’
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and affects more than two MILLION women a year
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be treated?
What is breast cancer?
Breast cancer develops from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.
When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding breast tissue it is called an ‘invasive’ breast cancer. Some people are diagnosed with ‘carcinoma in situ’, where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.
Most cases develop in women over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men though this is rare.
Staging means how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the earliest stage and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body.
The cancerous cells are graded from low, which means a slow growth, to high, which is fast growing. High grade cancers are more likely to come back after they have first been treated.
What causes breast cancer?
A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply ‘out of control’.
Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance of developing breast cancer, such as genetics.
What are the symptoms of breast cancer?
The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most breast lumps are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign.
The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.
How is breast cancer diagnosed?
- Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may do tests such as a mammography, a special x-ray of the breast tissue which can indicate the possibility of tumours.
- Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under the microscope to look for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.
If you are confirmed to have breast cancer, further tests may be needed to assess if it has spread. For example, blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest x-ray.
How is breast cancer treated?
Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a combination of two or more of these treatments are used.
- Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumour.
- Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focussed on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops cancer cells from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery.
- Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying
- Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the ‘female’ hormone oestrogen, which can stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the level of these hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer.
How successful is treatment?
The outlook is best in those who are diagnosed when the cancer is still small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then give a good chance of cure.
The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 70 mean more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.
For more information visit breastcancercare.org.uk, breastcancernow.org or www.cancerhelp.org.uk
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