Former EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison reveals she had womb cancer
Former EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison has revealed she underwent treatment for womb cancer.
Best known for playing Heather Trott on EastEnders from 2007 until 2012, she said she was diagnosed in 2015.
Speaking to OK! Magazine, Trott said she was in "absolute shock" when told the diagnosis.
“There were some dark moments, especially at night, when I thought: ‘am I going to die?’ Am I going to leave my husband without a wife, my son without a mum?" she recalled.
Fergison subsequently had to have a hysterectomy and then went through an early menopause before getting the all-clear.
The actress explained that she only told a few close friends about her cancer at the time, including former EastEnders colleagues Dame Barbara Windsor, June Brown, Steve McFadden and Linda Henry as well as the late comedian Paul O'Grady.
She said their "support meant the world" to her, adding that the late Dame Barbara offered to support her financially.
"Barb said 'Right, darling, how much? How much are your bills and your mortgage because we'd like to support you'," Fergison recalled. "I was in shock and said no but Barb was insistent - I wasn't earning. They sat there and wrote a cheque.
"I was sobbing but Barbara hugged me and said: 'Don't worry. We're always going to be here for you.’”
Fergison told OK! that she visited her GP after she began spotting blood and having backache. She was then referred for further tests and a biopsy.
The actress subsequently received a stage two cancer diagnosis, before undergoing a full hysterectomy and a course of radiotherapy.
Fergison, who has a son Alex from a previous marriage, married her husband Yassine Al-Jermoni in 2011.
She said: "Any thought of Yass and I having a child together had been taken away. We may not have gone down that route, of course, but we'd lost the ability to choose."
Having a hysterectomy had an impact on her emotionally as well as physically, she explained.
"It brought on early menopause too. In terms of how I saw myself as a woman, it felt as if it had all come to an end.”
Fergison added that she had been worried that a new bout of backache was a sign that her cancer had returned but tests showed her initial treatment had "got all the cancer".
She urged women to seek medical help if necessary.
“Listen to your body. Even if it’s the smallest concern - go and get checked because if you haven't got health, you've not got no wealth.”
Symptoms of womb cancer
The most common symptom of womb cancer, unexpected vaginal bleeding, can include:
bleeding after your menopause
bleeding between periods
bleeding after sex
heavy irregular periods
persistent heavy periods, unresponsive to medical management
watery or bloody vaginal discharge
However, not all abnormal bleeding is womb cancer so the best advice is to visit your GP to talk about your symptoms.
About 9,000 women are diagnosed with womb cancer each year in the UK, making it the most common gynaecological cancer ahead of ovarian and cervical cancer.
Most womb cancers occur in women who have gone through the menopause and are in their 50s but, although unusual, it can also affect younger women.
Womb cancer is usually treatable if found early.
