BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, recently disclosed she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.

The 42-year-old wife of Prince William, Britain’s future king, shared her cancer diagnosis to the world in a March video announcement. In the video, Middleton continued to say the cancer was detected after her abdominal surgery in January.

“The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present,” said Middleton.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Al Efishat, surgical oncologist from Our Lady of the Lake, said finding cancer after surgery can occur in certain situations. 

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“Sometimes we take the patient to the operating room because they have a mass in the abdomen, that mass has not been diagnosed yet uh, so in that scenario, it would not be unusual to find cancer,” said Al Efishat.

Al Efishat also said undergoing chemotherapy after surgery is not unusual. Middleton announced she was currently undergoing chemotherapy.

“It kills the cancer cells that might be floating in the blood, these are the cells that usually causes the recurrence or the return of cancer. One of the most common side effects is nausea, GI distress, fatigue. The majority of the regimens that are used for the GI tract cancers do not cause hair loss,” said Al Efishat.

However, Al Efishat spoke about one surgery that places chemotherapy directly into the abdomen. He said Our Lady of the Lake is the only hospital in Louisiana that is conducting the surgery.

“We put heated chemotherapy inside the abdomen, which is called the HiPex surgery. This is an effective surgery for selective patients with certain types of cancer that have spread to the inside of the abdomen,” said Al Efishat.

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However, no matter the surgery or diagnosis, Middleton’s message to cancer patients is clear, “you are not alone.”

“For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope,” said Middleton.

Middleton said she continues to focus on her health while undergoing chemotherapy.

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