The 48-year-old UK TV show host Michaela Strachan has just revealed on Sunday, October 5, through The Mail that she underwent a double mastectomy early this year after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Strachan, who describes herself as healthy and fit and who maintains a vegetarian diet, received the shock of her life when her routine mammogram tests came back positive for breast cancer. Since the disease was still in its early stages, her doctors in Cape Town, where she lived with her partner Nick Chevallier and their four children including twin boys, advised a double mastectomy to prevent the spread to the other breast.
Although they also considered lumpectomy, her 34B breasts seemed too small for the procedure, which will only then result to significant deformation. Nevertheless, she mentioned that she "celebrated" her breasts by wearing tight shirts and tops.
Strachan traveled to London with her youngest son Oliver two weeks after the double mastectomy surgery to shoot an episode for a TV show. Around 3 months after the procedure, she was already back in her job, filming episodes for Springwatch along with her co-hosts Martin Hughes-Games and Chris Packham.
She initially hesitated sharing her story to the public, afraid of being given labels. She was already called ex-anorexic after battling the eating disorder in her teens. However, she hoped that with her story, she would be able to inspire others. She is currently the ambassador of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, a charity organization. She also believed that mammograms helped save her life and encouraged other women to do the same.
She is scheduled for a reconstructive surgery.
In 2013, Angelina Jolie made headlines when she confessed in a personal essay that she too underwent a double mastectomy procedure after she discovered she carried the mutated breast cancer genes that put her at a higher risk of developing the disease than other women her age. Her admission eventually led to a huge increase of genetic test referrals in the United Kingdom.
