Fit and fabulous survivor

Today’s Daily Mail newspaper features a story on Diana Moran, the ‘Green Goddess’ who has just turned 70 and looks fabulous and fit. Diana was a regular feature on British TV throughout most of the Eighties.  I am of course very taken with her survivor mentality and how she has thrived in the intervening years since her breast cancer diagnosis in 1987. She says that it was the prospect of losing her life, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the height of her fame, that instilled her with the determination that she would never again waste a day.

She recounts how it was quite by chance that her cancer was discovered. ‘I was 47 at the time and in the early stages of the menopause, having hot flushes,’ she says. ‘When I read an article about a trial for hormone replacement therapy, I thought I’d volunteer. I was particularly interested to see that it could improve bone density and stave off osteoporosis.’I looked and felt perfectly fit and healthy, but the clinic insisted on a mammogram and cervical smear before accepting me. And thank goodness they did.’

Following her diagnosis, Diana told no one but her agent that she would be undergoing a double mastectomy and reconstruction. Not even her family. It’s a decision she now regrets. Diana, who is now a patron of Breast Cancer Care and recently completed a fundraising trek along the Great Wall of China, is keen to stress that no one ever need feel they should cope with cancer alone.

‘Of course, I’d always been fit. But that experience made me realise how precious life is. When you’re faced with losing it . . . Boy! It doesn’t half sharpen you up.’

Diana looks fabulous and is as committed as ever to keeping fit, which we know plays a significant role in preventing cancer and cancer recurrence.

 ‘The joy of having kept fit my whole life is that, at almost 70, I’m reaping the rewards. And believe me, you can, too.’