Sarah Ferguson felt well enough this weekend to travel to Bahrain for the big Formula 1 race. She was even interviewed on the ground, as you can see in these photos. Princess Eugenie, Jack Brooksbank and Zara and Mike Tindall were also in Bahrain for the F1 race, so that’s how things are going for the Windsors. No one is staying home worrying about the Princess of Wales or King Charles. As for Fergie, when she attended King Constantine’s memorial service in Windsor last week, I remarked that her color looked good and she certainly seemed to have a healthy appearance following treatments for breast cancer and skin cancer. As it turns out, there has been no spread of her skin cancer and her doctors are very optimistic!

The Duchess of York has been told there appears to be no spread of her skin cancer following another bout of surgery. Sarah, 65, received a devastating blow in January when doctors discovered a malignant melanoma during a second bout of reconstructive surgery following her breast cancer diagnosis last year. Now the Mail can reveal that the duchess has undergone further surgery to examine the area around the mole that was found to be malignant, as well as her lymph nodes. A friend said she had just learned that these were all ‘free of cancer’ and doctors believe there has been no spread of the disease.

‘She’s undergone further surgery following the melanoma diagnosis to examine the area around the mole that was found to be malignant and her lymph nodes,’ the duchess’ friend explained. ‘The good news is that these have all been found to be free of cancer so it looks like there has been no spread of the disease and the prognosis is good, though she’ll have to have regular check-ups going forward. It’s a huge relief for Sarah and the entire family after the most stressful time and an anxious wait for results.’

Sources close to the Duchess said doctors are reluctant to use the term ‘cancer free’ as vigilance is still very much needed, but added that there was very much cause for optimism.

The friend added: ‘She is very lucky that the melanoma was caught early thanks to the vigilance of her dermatologist, who asked for a number of moles to be checked while she was undergoing reconstructive surgery after her mastectomy. Sarah will now have to have checks every 12 weeks. She’s determined that some good comes out of her situation and was heartened to see there was an upsurge in people checking for details of melanoma on the NHS website after she made her diagnosis public. You can expect to see her banging the drum for the public health message and urging people not to miss mammograms or delay getting moles checked.’

‘Her intention will be to get the message out about the importance of being vigilant about checking the size, shape, colour and texture of moles. If melanoma is caught early, it can be treated very effectively.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I’m really glad that everything was caught early and that she seems to be “cancer free,” and I absolutely believe she’ll be vigilant about checkups, especially with the dermatologist. I hope this is life-changing for Fergie – I hope she dumps Andrew for good and does her own thing and builds her own life with her daughters and grandkids. It probably won’t happen, but here’s hoping.

Photos courtesy of IMAGO/nordphoto GmbH / Bratic / Avalon.