Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, has spoken publicly for the first time about when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The details of the health scare are revealed in her new book, “Matriarch: A Memoir.”
Knowles discovered the illness during a mammogram appointment that had been delayed for several years.
“My doctor told me I had breast cancer,” she wrote.
“A small tumour in my left breast that was cancerous; the larger tumour in my right breast was benign, but it would also have to go.
“She said I was Stage 1A, assuring me my prognosis was good. The next step was to talk to an oncologist and a breast surgeon.”
Knowles waited until the day of the diagnosis to share the news with Beyoncé.
“She took it well, staying positive, and I could already feel her mind racing, focusing on this as a task to tackle with precision,” she said of how Beyoncé reacted to her breast cancer diagnosis.
“She would find me the top specialist, and I distinctively remember her telling me, ‘I want you to get a second opinion on whatever the course of treatment is’,” Knowles added.
Knowles said her superstar daughter “lined up one of the top breast surgery specialists in the country” for her to get a private consultation.
After the surgery, which also included a breast reduction, Knowles wrote that she was cancer-free.