Loose Women panellist Kaye Adams has revealed that she underwent urgent surgery after experiencing a cancer scare. The ITV star had a procedure performed after finding a lump on her neck.
Kaye found the lump following an interview with comedian and author Mark Steel on his throat cancer. Heading to the doctors for a check-up, Kaye was told she should have it removed. However, she insisted that they'd 'leave it' as she 'couldn't face it'.
Discovery and delay
18 months after the lump was discovered, Kaye had the surgery performed to remove it. She provided the update on her podcast How To Be 60 with Kaye Adams.
She recalled: "We were interviewing Mark Steel and he was talking about his throat cancer diagnosis… And as is very typical of me whenever I meet somebody who's got a condition I decide that I've got it as well and so I did on that occasion and I was feeling about my neck and I thought I could feel something…"
"They did a scan and all the while I was thinking 'No I was overreacting, don't take me seriously' but they did take me seriously. And I just thought f**king both of us are gonna be diagnosed with cancer. I just thought it was written in the horrible stars."
Thyroid cancer symptoms
When it came to her decision to avoid having the surgery, Kaye said that she was 'constantly looking up thyroid cancer'. According to the NHS, the cancer is quite rare in the UK and is found in the thyroid gland.
Symptoms of thyroid cancer include a lump in the front, lower part of your neck, a hoarse voice, a sore throat, difficulty swallowing or breathing, a pain in the front of your neck, or a feeling like something is pressing against your neck.
Kaye continued: "I was like well if I've got thyroid cancer it's not the worst cancer to have all that stuff that goes through you're head. They kept tabs on me, I did a scan again this year and they said 'Look we better take this out.'"
Surgery and recovery
After having the lump removed, Kaye showed her fans her scar in an Instagram post. Saying that it's 'healing well', Kaye also shared a picture of her lying in her hospital bed.
She captioned a clip from the podcast: "This has been hanging over me for more than a year. I found a lump in my neck after we interviewed Mark Steele about his throat cancer (typically, whenever a guest has a condition, I decide I've got it too), and then I did what we all do when life gets busy. I put it off. Told them to leave it. Couldn't face it. Last week I finally had half my thyroid removed, and it's all clear.
"A huge thank you to Mr Hilmi, whose patience, skill and very neat handiwork have saved me from a lifetime of polo necks, and to the wonderful nurses and support staff at Gartnavel who looked after me so well. If you've been putting something off, don't."
