07 August 2023 , 16:09
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Love Island's Samie Elishi has given a health update after undergoing thyroid surgery two weeks ago following fans spotting a "worrying" lump on her throat. The reality TV star says she is "doing great" following the procedure.
The former estate agent co-ordinator, 23, had a hemithyroidectomy operation to remove the growth. She had previously told fans the lump was thankfully benign after undergoing tests to check if it was cancerous. The Winter Love Island contestant was admitted to hospital last week for her surgery where she gave updates to her fans from her hospital bed.
According to the NHS, a hemithyroidectomy is the removal of one of the lobes of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is situated in the lower part of the front of the neck. After her operation Samie told her followers: "We have just got some really good news, my surgeon has just called me and said that the lump in my neck is not cancerous and it's just a benign tumour. So we have Prosecco to celebrate."
Samie says she is recovering well after her operation (Dave Benett/Getty Images for Gho)
The Love Island star got her lump checked after appearing on the showShe also gave an update at Ghost Fragrances' Luna Collection launch party last week, where she told MailOnline: "I'm doing great, I have a Prosecco in hand, but in all honesty I thought I was going to be a lot worse than I was. But I woke up and like 20 minutes after I was eating McDonalds! I was absolutely fine and I know some people have worse experiences but I was so lucky and my surgeon was amazing and that was on the NHS."
In her latest YouTube vlog, Samie told her followers: "I just wanted to close off the vlog on the highest note ever. I was just so happy when my surgeon called me yesterday. It was a bit overwhelming I was in so much shock - bless him to call me directly as well, I just think that was so nice of him, he didn't have to do that. But yeah the worry is now over and the lump is out."
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The TV star added it was always good to "get these things checked and taken out" to 'be on the safe side', saying she didn't regret the surgery because the "results couldn't be any better." Samie also shared a snap of herself with a plaster on her throat and a drip in her hand during her hospital stay as she wrote: "My neck is currently still healing and this first picture was taken today after I removed the bandage but I couldn’t be happier with how neat it is."
The reality TV star, who made the final of this year's winter Love Island, says she wouldn't have got the lump checked out if fans hadn't gotten in touch with her while she was on the show. Speaking to BBC's Newsbeat, she said: "After the villa, my family and friends said they'd been getting messages from girls saying I have a lump on my neck and these girls had been sending pictures saying I could have thyroid cancer.
"I thought people are crazy and dismissed it. I had no idea. I could've had this on my neck for another 10 years. I feel like my purpose for going on the show was to discover this. It was only because I went on the show that fans who were so invested actually spotted it."