BBC presenter Jane Hill: healthy living helped me recover from breast cancer surgery

Jane Hill underwent a mastectomy in December following her breast cancer diagnosis - PA Wire
Jane Hill underwent a mastectomy in December following her breast cancer diagnosis – PA Wire

Jane Hill, the BBC news presenter, has disclosed that she underwent a mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer, and believes a lifetime of healthy eating has helped with her recovery,

Hill had the operation in December and declined reconstructive surgery. On Wednesday she said going to the gym regularly and eating a diet rich in broccoli had been a significant factor in her swift recuperation.

“I have, as it happens, done all the right things for about 25 years,” she said.

“When I told some of my friends I had been diagnosed with breast cancer, I used a lot of black humour – what was the point of eating all that broccoli for 25 years? How ridiculous – I don’t even like broccoli!

“But, oh my goodness, I hadn’t realised the difference it would make going into such a big operation.”

She said a nurse who checked her post-operative scars was amazed by how quickly they had healed “and she said that’s about going into [an operation] in pretty good shape so I’m very glad I ate all that broccoli.”

Hill, 50, one of the main presenters of the BBC News channel, said her consultant told her that being fit would stand her in good stead.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not Amazonian, I couldn’t run a marathon, but I’m a regular gym goer. I have been for many years.

“I definitely realise, with hindsight, it has helped my recovery enormously and I feel very lucky for that,” she told ITV’s Lorraine programme.

Hill decided against reconstructive surgery because she did not want to undergo further operations, and said her experience of breast cancer had been better than she expected.

“It sounds slightly fatuous, but if you’re given this diagnosis… please try not to be too scared because there hasn’t been one single element of this in the last 10 months that has been as bad as I thought it would be,” she said.

Hill underwent radiotherapy but did not have chemotherapy, and said she felt “super-lucky” to have had a good prognosis.

source: yahoo.com