TOWIE’s Mark Wright has opened up to fans about a recent cancer scare after having an operation to remove a 12cm tumour from his armpit. He says he hopes by sharing his story, he could help raise awareness and save somebody else’s life.
The 34-year-old posted on his Instagram from hospital on 8th December and told his 1.8 million followers about how he discovered a lump under his armpit and that at first, it was passed off as a “fatty lump.” But then it began to grow and a second consultant confirmed it was a tumour which needed removing.
Mark went into hospital on 8th December to have the lump taken out. In his Instagram post, he included a photo of him showing the sizeable lump under her armpit, followed by a photo of the tumour which had been removed next to a ruler, measuring 12cm in length.
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The reality TV star, who’s married to former Corrie actress Michelle Keegan, said he was in two minds about sharing the news, but decided that he could help somebody else get an early diagnosis by raising awareness to it.
“Ok, it’s been a tough call whether or not to speak about this. One part of me wants to keep something like this private and the other part is thinking, if I can help/potentially save 1 person, well…. this is the right thing to do,” he began the post.
“So here goes. I discovered a lump in my breast/armpit area. Not very big, but enough to cause concern and to be cautious enough to get it checked.
“I saw a doctor who passed it on as ‘a fatty lump that doesn’t need any treatment,’ so I just left it.
“After some time the lump grew and began to bother me. I am someone that when it comes to life in general, I leave no stone unturned. When it involves health, this idiom quadruples,” he said.
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“I saw another specialist, who happens to be a breast consultant, for a second opinion. He was certain after seeing an ultrasound scan that it was a LIPOMA (a BENIGN soft tissue tumour).
“However, with it being rather large, he had a tiny bit of concern that it has/could turn into a SARCOMA (a cancerous malignant tumour) However, he was not 100% either way so to be more sure, I had an MRI.
“From the result of the MRI, still this consultant did not want to rule out the worst because of the speed and the size of the growth,” he explained.
“At this stage I moved on to a SARCOMA specialist.
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“This specialist saw the scans around 10 days ago and today I was in theatre having this little git removed.
Mark went on to praise the specialists who looked after him and saw that he was treated so quickly. “His fast and incredible turn around was due to the fact he did not want to leave it any longer and wanted it out to prevent the rare risk of a LIPOMA turning into a sarcoma overtime.
“He also could not 100% confirm by the MRI that this was definitely a benign tumour and not something more sinister.
“The tumour will be sent off for further testing just to be 110% sure but this top doctor is certain from his incredible experience that we have done the job and there is nothing sinister to worry about. So I’m all good,” he reassured fans.
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“MORAL OF THE STORY: If you notice anything that doesn’t look or feel quite right. Don’t leave it.
Nothing in life is more important than your health and well-being. Get checked, check yourself and make sure you take good care of yourself,” he concluded.
Featured Image Credit: PA/Instagram/@wrighty_Topics: Cancer, TOWIE, Celebrity