She recently endured an agonising six-week wait for results of a biopsy but, when we speak to Danielle Lloyd, she tells us with a huge sigh of relief that the results were clear. The mum-of-five was rushed to hospital earlier this summer with unexplained bleeding, and doctors found ovarian cysts which they immediately tested for cancer.
“I was convinced I was going to die and was crying all the time,” she explains. “So when the doctor told me I was all clear, I felt this huge relief wash over me.”
But Danielle says the six-week wait for the results and trying to carry on as normal for her children – Archie, 13, Harry, 12, George, 10, Ronnie, five, and Autumn, one – took its toll.
She says, “I’d just be lying in bed and start crying, thinking, ‘I don’t want to leave my kids’. It was horrible. My anxiety was through the roof, and trying to stay positive and not let the kids know was really hard. I’d get panic attacks and would start crying out of the blue.”
Danielle – who is married to electrician Michael O’Neill – was originally taken to hospital after she experienced heavy vaginal bleeding and large blood clots over a period of three weeks.
She says, “I rang 111 and they told me to get to the hospital within an hour, and I was seen straight away. It was then they asked me if anyone had or had previously had cancer in my family. Hearing that was terrifying. Michael was so positive, he kept saying, ‘You’re going to be fine, you’ve got nothing to worry about’. I wanted to believe him but it was hard. He was so supportive and so were our families.”
At her appointment with the specialist six weeks later, Danielle was given the results of her biopsy but also told that doctors had found the cause of her symptoms. Having previously struggled with endometriosis (a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places like the ovaries and fallopian tubes), Danielle was diagnosed with adenomyosis (a condition where the lining of the womb starts growing into the muscle in the wall of the womb) and endometrioma (ovarian cysts filled with menstrual blood, in Danielle’s case one of her cysts is the size of a tennis ball, and usually a sign of severe endometriosis).
She says, “They said if left untreated, there was a small chance it could turn to cancer. The doctor explained to me that they’d need to do an operation to burn off the lining of my womb, and then he said, ‘You won’t be able to carry a baby again, is that OK?’”
Danielle says she and Michael had been trying for baby No.6 before this happened, but the doctor explained that while she may be able to get pregnant again, her risk of complications would be very high. The treatment required is endometrial ablation (surgery to destroy the lining of the womb), and Danielle will have this done at the same time as having the cysts removed, and she has also opted to be sterilised to remove any risk of getting pregnant in the future.
“The idea of not having the option to have another child is hard to come to terms with,” she admits. “I would have liked for Autumn to have a little sister, but I am grateful to have five healthy children, and maybe this is God’s way of saying, ‘You’ve had enough now!’”
And the former model says that while she’s still broody, she is shifting her focus to becoming a grandma in the future.
She says, “I keep seeing babies everywhere, and thinking, ‘I’d love one’. But I’m just going to have to wait for my kids to have their babies and I’ll look after them! I’ve come to terms with it now.”
If the operation doesn’t help with Danielle’s symptoms, she may be advised to have a hysterectomy, which would involve being put into an early menopause.
She says, “I’m going to take one step at a time and hopefully this operation works. I’m nervous, it all feels a bit daunting, but I’m in safe hands and I’m so thankful it’s not cancer.”
When we speak, Danielle is on holiday in Dubai, and her Instagram bikini pictures have been gaining a lot of attention. But while she says there is no big secret to her figure, she does go to the gym to help with her anxiety.
“I started getting up before the kids at 6.30am and going to the gym,” she explains. “I struggle with anxiety, and I find it sets me up for the day and puts me in a good mood.”
And she’s had a great – if tiring – holiday.
“We’ve had a really good time, but I’m ready to get back into routine now and into the school term. A holiday with five children is tiring, it’s been, ‘Mummy, Mummy, Mummy!’ for 11 days straight!”