{"id":449693,"date":"2023-12-19T18:21:21","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T18:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/?p=449693"},"modified":"2023-12-19T18:21:21","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T18:21:21","slug":"inside-esther-rantzens-illness-and-why-she-was-relieved-when-lump-in-her-armpit-was-diagnosed-as-lung-cancer-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/tv-movies\/inside-esther-rantzens-illness-and-why-she-was-relieved-when-lump-in-her-armpit-was-diagnosed-as-lung-cancer-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Esther Rantzen's illness and why she was \u2018relieved\u2019 when lump in her armpit was diagnosed as lung cancer | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

TV legend Esther Rantzen has opened up about her illness – revealing why she was "relieved" when a lump in her armpit was diagnosed as lung cancer.<\/p>\n

The BBC presenter was told she had stage four terminal cancer in January.<\/p>\n


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But Esther, 83, does not know how long she has left – and is waiting for a scan to find out.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the Today programme's podcast, Esther said: "I didn\u2019t think I would make it to my birthday.<\/p>\n

"I definitely didn\u2019t think I\u2019d make it to this\u00a0Christmas, which I am, it appears.<\/p>\n

"Anything can happen. I live in a forest, a tree can fall on me.<\/p>\n

Read More on Esther<\/h2>\n

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I'd ground her plane to Dignitas but it's her choice, Esther's daughter says<\/h3>\n

"I\u2019ve got to drop off my perch for some reason, and I\u2019m 83 damn it.<\/p>\n

"I should be jolly grateful and indeed am."<\/p>\n

Esther found a lump in her armpit after feeling tired throughout Christmas last year.<\/p>\n

A biopsy in early January came back with a stage-four cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n

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Writing in The Times, Esther said: "My greatest dread \u2014 I suspect like everyone\u2019s \u2014 was one of the gradually paralysing illnesses such as motor neurone disease. <\/p>\n

"So when I had a lump in my armpit investigated and was told it was lung cancer that had spread, in a way I was relieved."<\/p>\n

Writing in the Mail, Esther's daughter Rebecca Wilcox said: "At times in the past year, Mum's been more radioactive than Spider-Man.<\/p>\n

"The fact she's still here this Christmas, and well enough to come and stay with me, perhaps even pull a cracker and don a sparkly sweater?<\/p>\n

"Well, it's our very own Christmas miracle."<\/p>\n

Rebecca revealed that she, her brother Joshua, and their sister Miriam plan to lavish Esther with presents this Christmas – as it could be her last.<\/p>\n

Esther has signed up to assisted dying clinic Dignitas in case the scan comes back with bad news.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1998, over 2,100 people have died with Dignitas' help, in assisted suicides at home or at the society's house near Z\u00fcrich.<\/p>\n

The Swiss society helps members with severe physical or mental illnesses, as well as the terminally ill, to end their own lives.<\/p>\n

Both euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in the UK, with euthanasia carrying a maximum penalty of life in jail.<\/p>\n

Esther said: "I have joined Dignitas.<\/p>\n

"I have in my brain thought, 'Well, if the next scan says nothing\u2019s working I might buzz off to Zurich'.<\/p>\n

"But, you know, it puts my family and friends in a difficult position because they would want to go with me.<\/p>\n

"And that means that the\u00a0police\u00a0might prosecute them.<\/p>\n

"So we\u2019ve got to do something. At the moment, it\u2019s not really working, is it?<\/p>\n

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Rebecca said: "My mother never makes a decision in complete isolation but doesn't care what anyone else thinks.<\/p>\n

"It's horrific and she always promised us she would live forever and she's not one to break her promises – but this is her choice.<\/p>\n

"I would want to ground her plane if she was going to Zurich but it's her choice. She is absolutely correct.<\/p>\n

"My late father didn't have a good death. It was horrific. His death replaced our memories of him for a very long time.<\/p>\n

"That is what mum wants to avoid."<\/p>\n

It has long been a topic of debate whether or not assisted dying should become legal in the UK.<\/p>\n

Dame Esther's comments are likely to inspire renewed discussion of the UK's ban on it.<\/p>\n

She added: "My family say it\u2019s my decision and my choice.<\/p>\n

"I explained to them that actually I don\u2019t want their last memories of me to be painful.<\/p>\n

Read more on The Sun<\/h2>\n

<\/picture>GO WITH DIGNITY <\/span><\/p>\n

TV legend Esther Rantzen, 83, may end life at Dignitas after cancer battle<\/h3>\n

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"If you watch someone you love having a bad death, that memory obliterates all the happy times.<\/p>\n

"I don\u2019t want that to happen. I don\u2019t want to be that sort of victim in their lives."<\/p>\n

Spot the signs of lung cancer<\/h3>\n

Cancer Research UK lists 11 possible symptoms of lung cancer:<\/p>\n