Michaela Strachan has opened up about her double mastectomy during an appearance on Vanessa on Friday, describing the procedure as ‘extremely brutal’.
The Springwatch presenter, 59, was ‘shocked’ to hear she had been diagnosed with breast cancer over a decade ago at the beginning of 2014.
Luckily she went onto make a full recovery after undergoing a double mastectomy and later reconstructive surgery.
Now Michaela has discussed the emotional toll the ‘archaic’ procedure took on her, revealing she hopes in 50 years a better method of treatment will have been found.
Speaking to host Vanessa Feltz, 63, on her Channel 5 show Vanessa, the much-loved wildlife expert said: ‘My boobs were never a big part of my personality, but when they said they were going to take them away, they suddenly became more important than I thought they were.
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Michaela Strachan, 59, opened up about undergoing a double mastectomy during an appearance on Vanessa on Friday
The Springwatch presenter described the surgery as ‘extremely brutal’ and even ‘archaic’
‘It’s hard, you go through these things and you think you’re going to be fine and it’s not until afterwards that you realise emotionally it’s a big thing.
‘I really hope that in 50 years time we look back at removing a woman’s boobs as part of the treatment as archaic because there must be a better way.’
Michaela was asked by Vanessa whether the procedure is ‘too brutal’, to which she replied: ‘It’s brutal!
‘To take a woman’s breasts away is brutal. Of course, I’d rather not have boobs and be here than have them and be worried that cancer is going to come back.
‘But it just seems extremely brutal.’
Michaela too spoke to the host about recovering from her double mastectomy, a procedure which almost 15,000 women in the UK undergo every year.
‘It’s a six week recovery from the mastectomy and six weeks when you have the reconstruction,’ she said.
‘There’s lots of physio exercises that you do but, you know what, I’m in the position now where it’s eleven years later and I forget that I’ve had a mastectomy.
Michaela said she hopes in 50 years there will be a better way to treat breast cancer than undergoing a mastectomy
‘To take a woman’s breasts away is brutal. Of course, I’d rather not have boobs and be here than have them and be worried that cancer is going to come back,’ she told Vanessa Feltz
More than 10 years after she was diagnosed with the deadly disease, Michaela continues to present Springwatch alongside Chris Packham
‘I really want to encourage people to talk about it. It seems like such a massive thing at the time and I remember asking someone at the time, “When will I stop thinking about it every day?”
‘Now, day-to-day, I forget that I ever had breast cancer. I was really lucky.’
Others around Michaela were not so lucky however, with the presenter losing a sister-in-law to cancer, a friends’ son aged 35, and her partner Nick Chevallier’s best friend to a heart attack all during 2014.
She told The Express: ‘These were people our age. I know I’m getting on but I’m 57 – I shouldn’t know this number of people who have died.’
While living in a small coastal town in South Africa with her partner and their son Oliver, Michaela has since become an ambassador for the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, stressing the importance of having regular mammograms.
Michaela rose to fame during the 1980s before moving into wildlife television the following decade
Earlier this year the 59-year-old pushed herself ‘outside her comfort zone’ as she made it to the final of Dancing On Ice
She has continued to present Springwatch and earlier this year took part in Dancing On Ice, where she skated alongside pro partner Mark Hanretty.
Michaela made history on the show as, at the age of 58, she became the oldest ever contestant on Dancing On Ice to make it to the final.
She was however pipped at the final hurdle by Sam Aston. Michaela nevertheless described the experience as a ‘great’ way to push herself outside her comfort zone.
The presenter told earlier this year: ‘I think it’s great when you’re a bit older and you are able to push yourself out of your comfort zone.
‘I spent my entire career pushing myself out of my comfort zone, and it’s great to be able to continue to do that.’