Mother of music superstar Beyoncé, Tina Knowles, has shared her experience of being diagnosed with breast cancer in her new memoir, ‘Matriarch: A Memoir’.
Knowles revealed that she had delayed getting a mammogram for several years before discovering the illness during a routine appointment.
Knowles wrote that her doctor informed her of a small cancerous tumor in her left breast and a larger benign tumor in her right breast.
She wrote “My doctor told me I had breast cancer. A small tumour in my left breast that was cancerous; the larger tumour in my right breast was benign, but it would also have to go.
“She said I was Stage 1A, assuring me my prognosis was good. The next step was to talk to an oncologist and a breast surgeon.
Describing how Beyoncé reacted to her breast cancer diagnosis, Knowles said “I waited until the day of the diagnosis to share the news with Beyoncé, and she took it well, staying positive, and I could already feel her mind racing, focusing on this as a task to tackle with precision.
“I distinctively remember her telling me, ‘I want you to get a second opinion on whatever the course of treatment is’.”
Tina Knowles praised Beyoncé for her support, saying that her daughter lined up one of the top breast surgery specialists in the country for a private consultation. After surgery, which also included a breast reduction, Knowles was declared cancer-free.
