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Jessie J has shared the heartbreaking moment she ‘sobbed’ over her scars after undergoing surgery for breast cancer.
The singer, 37, has been recovering following the operation in June, after revealing the cancer had luckily been caught by doctors ‘early’.
And in a moving interview with The Sunday Times’ Culture Magazine, Jessie shared that after having surgery, she broke down in tears while looking at her scars.
The star had been told by doctors that as the cancer had been caught ‘early’ she would not need radiotherapy or chemotherapy, but due to the size of the lump in her breast, she underwent a full mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy.
She said: ‘The other night. Mum was massaging my boob for me, because I can’t touch the scars. And I started sobbing, ”I can’t believe this has happened.” She was like, ‘I wish it was me,’ and then I’m crying, she’s crying… I’m so glad it’s not her.’
The star added that she while she will need more surgery in the future, she’s still steaming ahead with promoting her return to music, with her next song Believe In Magic set for release on August 29.
She added: ‘People think, once you’ve got the all-clear, now it’s done. But I’ve got another surgery [to improve the symmetry of her implant with her other breast] and I need to heal, so I have to figure out the rest of this year.’
Jessie went onto gush about her beloved son Sky, two, admitting he’s been the ‘light of her life’ during her cancer battle.
At the time the star admitted her little boy was spending two weeks in Denmark with her partner Chanan Colman while she recovered, saying: ‘I miss him so much.’
It comes after Jessie shared in an Instagram post earlier this week that she would be undergoing more surgery.
While she is now back at home, the Price Tag singer revealed on Friday that she’ll soon be back in surgery, yet insisted she wouldn’t let it get in the way of parenting and making new music.
In a lengthy Instagram post, Jessie – who is mother to two-year-old-son Sky shared: ‘I can rest, parent AND release new music.
‘I didn’t leave a major label after 18 years to be scared to re write the rules to fit around my life / health and just make it realistic on what I can deliver in all roles in my life.’
She then revealed her upcoming surgery when she penned: ‘Another surgery needed this year. I can do it.’
She continued: ‘Raising a toddler. I can do it. Releasing new music. I can do it.
‘It will look different to what I had planned but that’s life, things change and either we panic and get mad that it isn’t what is was going to be, or we ADAPT.
‘I’m just flowing with life and giving the best I can. Instead of stopping and disappearing and waiting for the timing to be perfect to release music again.
‘It’s never the perfect time. Because grown up life is layered and has highs and lows and we just have to keep living in all of it. So here I am. LIVING.
‘And I just want you to have the music. Deal?’
She later added that she can be a ‘creative artist, present mother and healing patient, all at the same time’, alongside a magic ward emoji.
On Monday, Jessie issued a health update after being rushed back to hospital with fluid on her lungs.
Jessie firstly told how her video was the first ‘real time’ she’d uploaded since her surgery as she’d been focusing on resting rather than creating new content.
The Price Tag hitmaker remarked that she had ‘very few other symptoms’ now, joking that she hoped it was just a ‘viral p**s take’.
After mocking her appearance, Jessie then informed her followers that she was feeling ‘a lot stronger’, telling how after she was resting after being urged to do so by many.
Discussing her recent health setback, Jessie suggested that it was possibly because her immune system is low, adding that she’s not feeling ‘any worse’ and is resting.
She went on to thank her mother being her ‘hero’, as well as other loved ones who came over to help with her son Sky, two, or chip in with household tasks.
The star had been admitted to hospital last week with an infection and fluid on her lungs, and she shared at the time that her recovery from surgery has been ‘the most challenging time.’
Jessie previously confirmed that she is not cancer free, a day after posting her hopes to be rid of the disease.
The singer said last month her previous post had been ‘misunderstood’ and while she was ‘praying’ for good news, the cancer at present had unfortunately not ‘all gone’.
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?
It comes 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 tissue it is called ‘invasive’. Some people are diagnosed with ‘carcinoma in situ’, where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.
Most cases develop in those over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men, though this is rare.
Staging indicates 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, such as genetics.
What are the symptoms of breast cancer?
The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most 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 a 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 focused on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops them 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 71 means more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.
For more information visit breastcancernow.org or call its free helpline on 0808 800 6000
