Dancing On Ice's Alex Murphy urges fans to 'check their boobs' after cancer scare
Alex Murphy has revealed she had a cancer scare after discovering a lump in her breast, urging fans to "Check your boobs."
The professional Dancing On Ice skater opened up to her Instagram followers about finding the growth, the tests she had and how she's recovering from the ordeal.
In a Q&A on her Instagram stories, the 32-year-old bravely answered the question: 'What health scare did you have? Hope everything's okay xx'.
Murphy responded, "Everything is all good now. I found a lump on my boob, was referred to a specialist, and I had to have a series of mammograms, ultrasound and biopsies. But it came back benign so I'm in the clear." 'Benign' means the lump was non-cancerous and won't spread to other parts of the body.
She also said, "I've been referred for some genetic counselling cuz of my family history, so hopefully that will all come back clear as well."
Genetic counselling gives you an insight into the genetic conditions that might affect you or your family, by collecting your personal and family health history.
Murphy also said that people had assumed her and her partner Paul Klein had "definitely split up" due to her pause in content, when in fact she was caught up in this health scare.
She added, "It was horrible, but I think we're thru the worst of it now. I'm recovering from the biopsy fine, and I'm just mentally tired but I'm more than ok and Paul has been a [diamond emoji]."
And her most important part of the message, "So ladies if you actually read to the end of this... check your boobs."
Read more: Clara Amfo raises awareness about fibroids after having surgery to remove them
Watch: Teyana Taylor details her recovery process after receiving surgery to remove breast lumps
Murphy won Dancing On Ice in 2020 with her celebrity partner Joe Swash, an even more amazing achievement given she'd previously suffered a stroke at just 24.
She opened up about this terrifying experience in October, describing the moment she collapsed while performing on a cruise ship. She told the Metro: "I knew something was wrong the moment I stepped off the ice and tried to hang up my costume.
Read more: Chrissy Teigen undergoing IVF after loss of son: 'Stop asking if I'm pregnant'
"I couldn't lift my right arm – I thought that's funny – then I couldn't untie my skates or feel my foot. I had no idea what it was and felt like I was having a weird out of body experience. I started banging my hands on the sink to see if i could put life into them.
"I looked in mirror and didn't recognise myself – I didn't know I was Alex."
Read more: Tess Daly on why 'diet' is a four letter word
After enduring nine days of tests and examinations in a hospital in Tenerife, she then flew to a hospital in Miami to be reunited with her family, where doctors diagnosed that she had had a stroke caused by Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO), which means she had a hole in the heart, leading to a blood clot in her brain.
Faced with two options, take blood thinners for the rest of her life and never skate again due to a risk of losing too much blood from an accident, or undergo an operation to repair the heart defect, she immediately went for the operation.
Three months later, she won Dancing On Ice in the Netherlands.
