BRAVE Sarah Ferguson has told friends she feels “very lucky to be alive” after a gruelling eight-hour breast cancer operation.
The Duchess of York, 63, is said to be in good spirits and recovering well after spending four days in intensive care following her ordeal.
Sarah Ferguson is recovering from a gruelling eight-hour breast cancer operation
A huge Bouquet of flowers was delivered to the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, where the Duchess of York is resting as she recovers from her recent hospital operation
It is believed mum-of-two Fergie needed round-the-clock monitoring after the anaesthetic took its toll during what pals confirmed was “successful” surgery.
She has returned home following the procedure at King Edward VII’s Hospital in Marylebone, central London, in which a breast was removed and reconstructed.
Pals say daughter Eugenie, 33, has “all but moved in” to Royal Lodge in Windsor to look after her while older daughter Beatrice, 34, is “constantly on the phone”.
Fergie is also being supported by former husband Prince Andrew, 63, and King Charles has written to send his “sincere wishes for a speedy recovery”. Well-wishers have sent flowers.
Fergie, patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, had been symptom-free before being diagnosed at a routine mammogram in May, as The Celeb Report exclusively revealed.
Surgeon Christine Choy carried out the single mastectomy while colleague Stuart James reconstructed the breast using stomach fat.
A friend of the duchess said: “The surgery took getting on for eight hours and was more involved than people think. Today, the message she wants to get out is that she’s very grateful and she feels very lucky to be alive.
“She wants to thank the two incredible surgeons Christine Choy and Stuart James who saved her life and all the medical team who worked tirelessly to help her.”
A source said Fergie was lucky as her cancer was caught early.
They added: “Most people usually associate breast cancer with a lump but that’s not always the case. A lump can be detected by the patient, but this was a ‘shadow’, which can go undetected as it’s a wider spread of cancerous cells.
“In Sarah’s case, a biopsy was taken from the shadowy area of tissue and a few days later the results came back to confirm the diagnosis — breast cancer.”
Documentary Daphne Barak, who has been friends with Fergie for 20 years, said her pal made light of the surgery beforehand, saying she would be getting a free tummy tuck as well as a new breast.
Daphne, 58 told The Celeb Report on Sunday: “Sarah was joking that she was looking forward to being slimmer as a result of the fat being taken from her stomach for the breast reconstruction.
“She said she would be starting a health kick, eating the right things and exercising.”
She told me: “Soon we can go out together in white skinny jeans’.
“Her strength through this all has been an inspiration.”
Fergie had been symptom-free before being diagnosed at a routine mammogram in May, as The Celeb Report exclusively revealed
