Loose Women star Janet Steet-Porter was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2020, and on Monday's installment of the show, revealed she took an unusual route to find out what was wrong.
Speaking of the current long NHS waiting list, and the idea that patients might be able to self-refer themselves to specialists in the future, Janet revealed that she self-referred herself when she had melanoma on her nose.
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The 76-year-old told her fellow hosts: "I was glad I had done it because I could not put up with the waiting list, and the idea that I might have to wait months.
"When I was diagnosed, and it wasn’t any old spot, I wanted it got rid of," she continued, explaining why she self-referred.
© Photo: RexJanet Street-Porter was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2020
Janet first spoke of her cancer on Loose Women in June 2020, sharing that she was diagnosed with skin cancer just three days before the coronavirus lockdown was announced.
The presenter mistakenly thought that she was suffering from a mosquito bite on her nose, until a specialist informed her it was, in fact, a basal cell carcinoma.
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Speaking to her co-stars via video link, she said: "About four months ago, it was just after Christmas, I came back from Australia. I noticed this spot on my nose, I just thought it was an insect bite."
She continued: "I showed this tiny spot on my nose to a dermatologist and he immediately referred me to a consultant and they said I've got a basal cell carcinoma, which is a form of skin cancer.
© Photo: RexJanet had surgery to treat her skin cancer
"If untreated it could grow. It has to be removed otherwise it's going to get bigger and bigger. Also, I could be left with a very big scar."
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She added: "I was about to have it removed then lockdown happened three days before I was supposed to have it removed. I've spent the whole of lockdown getting more and more anxious about it. Although it doesn't look any bigger on top of my skin, this kind of cancer grows under the skin. You can't see it and that's what they've got to cut out."
Following surgery, Janet made a full recovery, thank goodness.
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