Julia Bradbury’s Children React to Breast Cancer Diagnosis as She Struggles with Surgery Scars

Julia Bradbury’s Children React to Breast Cancer Diagnosis as She Struggles with Surgery Scars

Julia Bradbury has revealed the heartbreaking response from her children when she told them about her cancer diagnosis as her daughter asked, ‘are you going to die’?

The Countryfile presenter, 53, was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2021 before undergoing a mastectomy to have her 6cm tumour removed. 

Julia shares her son Zephyr, 13, and her twin girls, Xanthe and Zena, eight, with her property developer husband, Gerard Cunningham.

And during an interview on new health podcast from Dr Oscar Duke, Bedside Manners, she explained that HER children immediately asked if she was going to loose her hair or if she will die. 

She told the healthcare professional: ‘So I took them into the garden. Jerry and I took them into the garden and just told them and said, look, we’ve got some bad news. 

‘Mummy’s not very well, and she has this thing called cancer and they immediately went, does that mean your hair’s going to fall out? And that’s what children think about. They think about chemotherapy.

Julia Bradbury’s Children React to Breast Cancer Diagnosis as She Struggles with Surgery Scars

Julia Bradbury has revealed the heartbreaking response from her children when she told them about her cancer diagnosis as her daughter asked, ‘are you going to die’?

The Countryfile presenter, was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2021 before undergoing a mastectomy to have her 6cm tumour removed

The Countryfile presenter, was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2021 before undergoing a mastectomy to have her 6cm tumour removed

‘Yeah, because they’ve seen these images, don’t they? Then of course the question was, are you going to die? 

‘And it’s like, no, I don’t think I am going to die. I’m going to have this treatment. I’m not going to be very well, and I’m going to be a bit sensitive and a bit poorly. 

‘Then one of my little girls, and I’ve spoken about this a lot, and it always makes me cry, she said, can I still hug you? And I was like, yes, of course you can.’ 

She also discussed how she felt about her body after her mastectomy surgery.

Julia said: ‘I didn’t want to look at my scars. I didn’t want to look down at my new breast. I wanted to get through the painkiller phase and getting over the antibiotics. I wanted to be up and walking. I wanted to be back out in nature. 

‘I wanted to feel more like me and then be ready to look myself in the mirror and go, right, this is the new me and from now on in, this is it. This is where we’re going. This is who we are and let’s move forward from this point. 

‘My mum, bless her, lovely, Chrissy, she wanted to see straight away and so I let her see, and she just whispered by me and said, it’s beautiful, Jules. You know you’re going to be, it’s lovely.’

Julia shares her son Zephyr, 13, and her twin girls, Xanthe and Zena, eight, with her property developer husband, Gerard Cunningham

Julia shares her son Zephyr, 13, and her twin girls, Xanthe and Zena, eight, with her property developer husband, Gerard Cunningham

Julia has also previously spoke about the moment she told her husband, Gerard Cunningham, that she had cancer around four years ago.

Appearing on Davina McCall’s Begin Again podcast, she said: ‘I told him, and we cried. And I said, ‘I’ll do whatever I have to do to get through this. I will do whatever it is’.’

Determined to fight, she expressed her readiness to face any challenge that may pop up ahead.

‘If I have to lose a breast, I’ll have to lose my hair. If I have to go, whatever it is I need to do,’ she said. 

‘I’m going to do what I need to do to get through this.’

And during an interview on a podcast from Dr Oscar Duke, Bedside Manners, she explained that she children immediately asked if she was going to loose her hair or if she will die

And during an interview on a podcast from Dr Oscar Duke, Bedside Manners, she explained that she children immediately asked if she was going to loose her hair or if she will die

Julia has also previously spoke about the moment she told her husband, Gerard Cunningham, that she had cancer around four years ago

Julia has also previously spoke about the moment she told her husband, Gerard Cunningham, that she had cancer around four years ago

Julia said fighting cancer is not the same for everyone. She explained: ‘Every type of cancer is different. Every type of breast cancer is different.

‘You’ll have a friend who’s gone through breast cancer, and she and I will sit down and have a story, and we’ll have had a different tumour in a different place, and it will behave differently.

‘It’s very complicated. And that’s the reason why the war on cancer hasn’t been won yet.’

In 2023, she spoke about her determination to ‘stay alive’ two years on from her breast cancer diagnosis.

The journalist and TV presenter had the tumour, two lymph glands and her left breast removed before having reconstruction surgery.

Julia has since revealed how her diagnosis changed her life, leading her to adopt a much healthier diet and go teetotal as she declared she will do everything possible to see her children grow up.

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Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and affects more than two MILLION women a year

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be treated?

What is breast cancer?

It comes from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.

When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding tissue it is called ‘invasive’. Some people are diagnosed with ‘carcinoma in situ’, where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.

Most cases develop in those over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men, though this is rare.

Staging indicates how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the earliest stage and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body.

The cancerous cells are graded from low, which means a slow growth, to high, which is fast-growing. High-grade cancers are more likely to come back after they have first been treated.

What causes breast cancer?

A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply ‘out of control’.

Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance, such as genetics.

What are the symptoms of breast cancer?

The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign. 

The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.

How is breast cancer diagnosed?

  • Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may do tests such as a mammography, a special x-ray of the breast tissue which can indicate the possibility of tumours.
  • Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under a microscope to look for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.

If you are confirmed to have breast cancer, further tests may be needed to assess if it has spread. For example, blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest X-ray.

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How is breast cancer treated?

Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a combination of two or more of these treatments are used.

  • Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumour.
  • Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focused on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops them from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery.
  • Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying.
  • Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the ‘female’ hormone oestrogen, which can stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the level of these hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer.

How successful is treatment?

The outlook is best in those who are diagnosed when the cancer is still small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then give a good chance of cure.

The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 71 means more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.

For more information visit breastcancernow.org or call its free helpline on 0808 800 6000

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