B&B star diagnosed with breast cancer

[y&r_fan]

Lesley-Anne Down has posted on her blog that she has breast cancer, hence her lack of screen time.

[YRBB]

A few days ago she gave an interview on how she battled, and got over it. I'm glad she's OK.

[DaytimeFan]

I've read the interview with HELLO! and all I can say is THAT is one tough lady. Three cheers for Lesley Anne, brave as hell, may she have good health always and a very merry Christmas!

[Andrew]

I Hope she is allright, cancer is a dreadul desease!.

[MarkH]

Did she say anything about stage, metastasis, or whether she had surgery and her post-surgery treatment choices?

I ask because all of these things will influence her on-screen vitality, and will stop me from cussing out Brad Bell for under-using her.

I find it fascinating that she gave the story to Hello! (Hello!Canada? Hello!UK? or which one? Is there a US one?), and bypassed the soap press. Yet another sign of irrelevancy.

I hope she recovers, and we can finally get back to the "Renaissance of the House of Spectra" that many of us had hoped for.

[sheilaforever]

She still is a name actress. With dated fame but North & South is still popular...

Mags were probably paying for her story unlike SOD who could never afford it.

[YRBB]

Unlike I am mistaken, It was HelloUK.... And I've got to give it to Bell: He has his many faults, but one thing you can never accuse him of: Of not being human. He treats his actors (the one he keeps) wonderfully, and when they need time, or backburning, or whatever, he's right there supporting him, even if it hurts the show.

[Astrotruf]

I hate hearing of anyone diagnosed with cancer! I hope she'll be alright.

[DaytimeFan]

The article appeared in HELLO! UK. Lesley Anne is a 'name' in England from her days on 'Upstairs, Downstairs'...I also agree about Brad Bell, whatever we say about him as an executive or writer, as a PERSON he's an all star.

Lesley Anne said that she'd been having issues with her breasts for 30 years and this past January she finally got the news she's sort of been expecting her whole life: cancer. The cancer was very early stage and had not spread to her lymph nodes. Her doctor suggested a lumpectomy followed by radiation and then (what I assume to be) tamoxifen for 5 years.

Lesley Anne went a different road. A very gutsy road that most women don't go down. She opted for a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy, the complete removal of both of her breasts in their entirety. By doing so, she was able to skip the radiation and (what I assume to be) tamoxifen. She had reconstructive surgery in March and has been healing ever since.

Reconstructive surgery is a process. First, Lesley Anne would have what are called 'expanders' inserted where her implants would eventually go. These 'expanders' gradually stretch the skin, it can be quite uncomfortable. Then, saline or silicone implants are inserted and the rest of the breast is reconstructed from her skin.

Lesley Anne healed beautifully and was back to exercise 6 days post op.

After reading her journey I think she's a helluva lady and I hope we see the renaissance of Spectra fashions soon.

[MarkH]

Oh my...I wonder what motivated this? The less-radical surgery, prophylactic radiation, and tamoxifen have led to HUGE "cure" rates. (Some say as high as 95% under certain conditions).

Another site summarizes the data as follows:

Lesley Anne has worn wigs on B&B since the beginning. Her switch to a blonde wig would roughly coincide with the timing of her surgery...but now I wonder if the surgery is what pre-empted the "rebuilding of the House of Spectra" that had been on tap. But I guess she wouldn't have hair loss if she eschewed radiation and chemo?

[bandbfan]

Nothing against wigs, but she should switch back to brown, lol.

I'm sure Brad has been waiting until she's 100% ready until giving her some story. Having the cancer and her father dying, it's been a rough year.

[DaytimeFan]

You're never 'cured' of cancer. It goes into remission and if you're lucky it stays that way for the rest of our life. Tamoxifen and radiation is hard treatment to endure. I am fortunate that I've never been directly touched by cancer, but I have seen friends who have and all cancer treatment is hell on earth. Like Suzanne Somers said, cancer is not for sissies.

What Lesley Anne Down did guarantees her something. By having a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy she will NEVER have breast cancer again. She has no breast tissue anymore, she is FREE of this condition. That freedom was probably worth it for her. She said in the article that she's had cysts and problems with her breasts for 30 years and that the bilateral mastectomy wasn't really even a decision, she KNEW that was the answer, for her. I commend her bravery.

I think her surgery did have something to do with the collapse of the Spectra storyline. I sincerely hope that will be resurrected.

So ladies, get your mammograms and ultrasounds. Guys, get your prostate exam. Everyone get your colonoscopy, take a multivitamin, some vitamin D, exercise, eat a good diet, say your prayers and hope for the best. What Lesley Anne endured is the best case scenario.

Detection at Stage 1 is the 'cure' for cancer.

[bandbfan]

I think it's a good thing that she's been making these apperances lately, at the wedding party and then the memorial. They could've easily left Jackie out of those parts. She's not any more related to Phoebe than Beth or Nick, and they weren't at the memorial.

[dm.]

OMG! I didn't know that's what actually happened. Poor Lesley. It's a real nightmare, I had the same thing in my family.

[DrewH]

That's freaking awesome news that managed to get through this. Down's condition seems to be very similar to my mother's current condition. They both were spotted early and my mother is having the same procedure that Down had. I'm very happy for her.