EMMERDALE star Malandra Burrows has been left “heartbroken” after revealing her stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis.
The actress – who is best known for her long-running role as Kathy Glover in ITV soap – opened up about the possibility of having a lump removed from her breast in a tell-all interview.
Malandra, 56, who rose to fame on Emmerdale, was diagnosed with the disease in February after finding a lump the previous month.
The lump in her left breast – originally thought to be “just a cyst” – was confirmed to be cancer by a Macmillan nurse.
The actress told OK! magazine about how she was left so heartbroken that she had a “breakdown” after finding out.
“When I went in, I found myself greeted by a Macmillan nurse and I just knew. She nearly broke down telling me,” Malandra said.
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“I’d already galvanised myself before hearing the news, so I’ve never cried about it. My body involuntarily had a breakdown.
“I didn’t feel like I was breaking down, but I just couldn’t eat or do anything. There was something in the back of my mind that knew what was going on inside my body.”
Doctors explained that the cancer may have been sparked by the menopause, and will require six months of chemotherapy.
While she was initially hesitant to take up the treatment, she had been warned the cancer could “spread round her body”.
“I’ve got to be brave,” she continued. “They said that if this cancer is allowed to spread around my body, they could do nothing more.”
Malandra may have to undergo a mastectomy this year in order to make sure the cancer is gone once and for all.
“There is no point in having wonderful boobs that are your own but you’re pushing up daisies,” she said of the surgery. “This is saving your life, so if it’s got to be done.
“It’s always been day by day and I think that’s the best way. The doctors haven’t said to me, ‘Get everything in order.’”
The star concluded by encouraging women to get checked out after her mammogram appointment was cancelled due to Covid-19.
She insisted that the cancer could have been discovered earlier had the appointment, scheduled for 2020, not been missed.
“Since my diagnosis I tell all ladies to please go and get a mammogram,” Malandra concluded.
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Malandra is best known for playing Kathy Bates in ITV soap Emmerdale – before she left the show in 2001.
After quitting the soap, Malandra went on to become a singer and appeared on I’m A Celebrity in 2006.
