Sarah Ferguson is continuing to recover following her single mastectomy.
After sharing she was diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer and had to undergo surgery, the Duchess of York reflected on her journey.
"It's really just extraordinary to come to terms with a new you," she said on the July 5 episode of her and Sarah Thomson's podcast Tea Talks with the Duchess and Sarah, which was recorded about a week after the procedure. "It's extraordinary. You just cannot be complacent with yourself or life or just how lucky you are."
As Ferguson recalled, she had gone in for a routine mammogram and the doctor detected a "shadow." She said she then went to the NHS' Royal Free Hospital in London, where she "had contrast put in my arm" and they could further see the shadow. She later underwent surgery at King Edward VII's Hospital.
"From the drive from the Royal Free over to the VII, I sort of looked up mastectomy," the duchess remembered. "And then pathology came back a few days later and then, of course, your mind's already gone racing in every direction. And then [I] get a text saying, 'We think it's mastectomy.' Then your mind plays more tricks. And then you go and meet the reconstructive surgeon and you suddenly think, 'OK, we can do this.'"
Ferguson said the surgery lasted eight hours. A spokesperson for the 63-year-old told Sky News on June 25 that the procedure had "taken place successfully" and that the "prognosis is good."
And the duchess is continuing to urge others to get checked.
"We must make people realize, it's not OK. But if you're going to get it, then catch it quick," she shared on her podcast. "Do the screening, catch it quick and go and say I can do this….It's not bravery. It's not courage. It's about understanding that you're not going to feel as you did for a bit. So don't try and be a superhero. Take many steps, have the cup of tea, trust people. Very important not to be complacent with every single thing now."
Ferguson—who shares daughters Princess Beatrice, 34, and Princess Eugenie, 33, with her ex Prince Andrew—acknowledged the experience was not only scary for her but also for her family.
"I think it's scary for any family member out there," she said. "You really start looking at your own demise. It's a wake-up call, and then you think, 'How am I going to deal with this?'"
However, Ferguson considers herself lucky.
It "didn't go into my lymph nodes, and I don't have to have chemo or radiation or Tamoxifen," she said, later adding. "My job is to get out there strong, healthy and keep spreading the word."