Tisha Goddard, the daytime TV presenter, has been diagnosed with breast cancer according to reports today.

The disease was detected three weeks ago during a routine mammogram.  A lump was removed along with lymph nodes for biopsy and cancer was found in one of the nodes.

Trisha, a 50-year-old mother of two, will now have a second operation to remove further lymph nodes and the possibility of chemotherapy.

Her husband, Peter Gianfrancesco said she is “stressed and exhausted.  Trisha has to go into hospital again and then wait for the results of the tests on the nodes that are being removed this time.  She may possibly need, or choose to have, chemotherapy.  We are both stressed and exhausted from the stress and worry, but are trying to deal with this one step at a time.  We hoped that we could handle this in private, but following a number of enquiries from newspapers, we thought it best to put the record straight.  We ask that everyone respects out privacy during this difficult time, allowing us to focus on  supporting my wife’s recovery.”

Apparently, Ms. Goddard is only planning to take a couple of weeks of work before returning to her job at the end of the month.

The managing director of Townhouse Productions, Malcolm Allsop, said that she is determined to beat the illness and that “Trisha does not want to feel like a sick person.  Indeed, she went straight back to work after the first operation and four days after leaving hospital was at a lunch with Madam Sarkozy and Sarah Brown at Lancaster House.  When she had her last medical last year, the doctor said she had the fitness level of an endurance athlete.  She is strong and will come through  this as she has with other setbacks in her life.”  He added “Fortunately the shows are recorded several weeks in advance, so she is hoping that transmission will not be interrupted.”

Let’s hope she makes a full recovery.