11 January 2023 , 13:32
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Dame Joan Bakewell announced she's been diagnosed with cancer.
The BBC journalist, 89, says she was told she had colon cancer during a routine examination - after her sister died from the same disease at the age of 58.
"I’ve always been optimistic because I caught this cancer early on, and within a week I was in hospital having an operation," she said.
It's understood Joan, who is also a Labour Party peer, is still undergoing treatment after she was operated on before Christmas.
"I’ve recovered from [surgery]," she said.
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"I’m feeling fine, and the chemotherapy is a mopping-up operation to make sure it doesn’t come back."
Dame Joan Bakewell is thought to have had an operation before Christmas (Getty Images)
She said she's feeling optimistic (Getty Images)The Baroness said that she has been to the House of Lords this week and has been working on a new series of Landscape Artist of the Year on Sky Arts.
"I've been able to do everything I needed to do," she said after only cancelling one session of voiceover work while she recovered.
She continued to Daily Mail: "I should be having chemotherapy once every two weeks, but I’ll still be out, and was at the ballet the other night.
"I don’t let it interfere, as much as possible, but, obviously, I do as I’m told. You just have to get on with life.
"And, of course, I’ve been in a position to learn treatments have improved so much and cancer is no longer a death sentence – that’s why we need to catch it early and do all the tests that arise and go through it.
"In a sense, it’s made me optimistic, which sounds odd."
Dame Joan Bakewell has had a long career in the media (Dave Benett/Getty Images for Sky)
She was awarded a lifetime peerage in 2011 (Getty Images)Joan, who is a Breast Cancer Care patron, added: "I know and talk to people that have got repeated cancers and things like that and I know what it means to keep your spirits up and persist with the treatments that they have offered."
The Baroness has had a long career in the media after starting as a studio manager for BBC Radio before going on to host programmes for the BBC in the 1980s through to the early 2000s.
She was awarded a lifetime peerage in 2011.
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