brave star
Danielle Lloyd breaks down in tears in heartbreaking post as she reveals skin cancer diagnosis
Danielle sent a warning to her followers as she sobbed in the video
DANIELLE Lloyd broke down in tears she told fans she's been diagnosed with skin cancer in an emotional post.
The model, 41, took to Instagram to share her news and urged her followers to never ignore potential signs.
4
4
4
Devastated Danielle told how she needs to have an operation to determine the severity of her diagnosis.
She said: "I don't really know how to say this and I didn't know whether to come on and say it but I feel like I have to raise awareness of this.
"Today I have been diagnosed with a form of skin cancer."
Danielle sobbed as she continued: "Anyone who thinks they've got something funny on their body - please go to your doctor. You just never know."
More on Danielle Lloyd
After thanking medical staff for taking care of her, the mum-of-five shared the next steps following her shock news.
She said: "I've got to have an operation to see if it's spread. Look after your skin, stay off sunbeds, wear factor 50 - you never know what's going to happen."
Danielle is mum to Archie, 13, George, 12, and Harry, 10 - who she shares with ex-husband Jamie O’Hara.
She and husband Michael O'Neill are parents to Ronnie, six, and two-year-old Autumn Rose.
Most read in Celebrity
Danielle's health battle comes after her £2million home was targeted by masked intruders in a terrifying raid last year.
She and Michael - who were out at the time - watched in horror on a live-stream on her phone as three balaclava-wearing thugs smashed through a back door with a crowbar before stealing designer watches, handbags and jewellery.
Danielle later told The Sun: "It was horrifying — and the worst thing I have ever seen.
"We rarely go out so we think they targeted it for when we were out.
"We have a professional security company, who contacted us plus we had a Ring doorbell at the back door they broke in through.
“It meant we watched it, as it happened, on the company’s app."
During the raid the gang stole more than £100,000 of watches, bags and jewellery.
The haul included two designer timepieces, a Cartier bangle, Danielle’s diamond wedding ring and a bank card.
4
What is melanoma, what are the symptoms and how can you prevent it?
Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer that has a tendency to spread around the body.
It is diagnosed 16,000 times per year, and tragically takes the lives of 2,340 people per year.
The number of people being diagnosed with melanoma is increasing, and it is the 5th most common cancer in the UK.
But it is also one of the most preventable cancers, with 86 per cent of cases in the UK avoidable.
The best way to protect yourself from melanoma is to be sun safe - wear SPF every day, wear a hat and sunglasses and keep out of the sun in the hottest hours. It is also advised to avoid sunbeds.
People who are fair-skinned, have blue or green eyes, blonde or red hair and a large number of freckles or moles are more likely to get skin cancer.
Surgery is the main treatment for melanoma, particularly if it is found early. This will involve removing the affected tissue in the skin.
Radiotherapy, medicines and chemotherapy are also sometimes used to try and stop the cancer from growing. Treatment depends on the severity of the disease.
What are the symptoms?
The key thing to look out for are changes to an existing mole, or a new mole on your skin.
Most experts recommend using the simple “ABCDE” rule to look for symptoms of melanoma skin cancer, which can appear anywhere on the body.
There are five letters/words to remember:
- Asymmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are an irregular shape
- Border – melanomas usually have a notched or ragged border
- Colours – melanomas will usually be a mix of two or more colours
- Diameter – most melanomas are usually larger than 6mm in diameter
- Enlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma
A mole that changes size, shape or colour may be a melanoma.
But other signs to look out for include moles that are:
- Swollen and sore
- Bleeding
- Itchy
- Crusty
How deadly is it?
Melanoma is a deadly form of skin cancer.
The outlook of a person’s disease depends on the stage of the cancer when it was diagnosed.
Survival is better for women than it is for men.
“We don't know exactly why this is. It may be because women are more likely to see a doctor about their melanoma at an earlier stage,” says Cancer Research UK.
The charity says that generally, statistics show that in England, more than 85 out of every 100 people (more than 85 per cent) will survive their melanoma for 10 years or more after they are diagnosed.
- Around 100 per cent in England diagnosed with melanoma at stage 1 - when the cancer cells are only in the top layer of skin - will survive for five years or more after diagnosis.This drops to 80 per cent for stage 2.
- Some 70 per cent live for a further five years when they are diagnosed in stage 3, which is when the cancer has started to spread to nearby lymph nodes.
- At stage 4, when the melanoma has spread elsewhere in the body, almost 30 per cent survive their cancer for 5 years or more.
Cancer Research says the stage 4 data does not account for age differences. Age can affect outlook and younger people have a better prognosis than older people.
Age can affect outlook and younger people have a better prognosis than older people.
What is melanoma?
Melanocytes are cells in the skin that give us the colour of our skin because they produce a pigment, known as melanin.
When you sit in the sun, melanocytes produce more pigment (a sun tan), which spreads to other skin cells to protect them from the sun’s rays.
But melanocytes are also where cancer starts.
Too much UV causes sunburn, and this is a sign of damage to the skin’s DNA.
The UV triggers changes in the melanocytes, which makes the genetic material become faulty and cause abnormal cell growth.
People who burn easily are more at risk of skin cancer because their cells do not produce as much pigment to protect their skin.
Those with albinism are at the most risk because their skin produces no pigment at all.
Topics