Emilia Clarke has revealed she was afraid of being fired from Game of Thrones after she suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2011. Clarke, 36, played “Mother of Dragons” Daenerys Targaryen on the hit HBO adaptation of George R R Martin’s fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire. The British actor revealed she “was struck” by the bleed on the brain after filming the first season of the show, in a 2019 essay for The New Yorker. Clarke described how she began to feel a “bad headache coming on” while she was getting ready to work out at a gym in north London “to relieve the stress” around the release ofThrones. Soon after, the star collapsed and was taken to hospital. “The diagnosis was quick and ominous: a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a life-threatening type of stroke, caused by bleeding into the space surrounding the brain.” she wrote at the time. In a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar, the Me Before You star reflected on being diagnosed with the brain condition that turns fatal for a third of all patients, and how she feared it would cost her the part which eventually catapulted her to global fame. “I wasn’t afraid of dying,” she said. “I was afraid of being fired! “I decided: ‘This is not something that’s going to define me’. I never gave into any feeling of ‘Why me? This sucks’. I was just like – gotta get back on it,” the Emmy winner added. Clarke also said she felt “very ashamed” and like she was “broken” after a routine operation to address a second bleed went horribly wrong, as she worried the show’s producers would see her as an “unreliable person that they’ve hired” for the job. After the second surgery, Clarke experienced aphasia – a disorder that impacts a person’s ability to speak or understand speech – as she worried about the security of her job which “centred on language, on communication”. “Without it, I was lost,” she wrote in the first-person essay. Elsewhere in the new interview, Clarke admitted “I might have turned into a right old d***head” if she hadn’t had the brain haemorrhages, “thinking I was the bee’s knees, living in Hollywood”. “I’m so much more aware of what’s happening, in the moment that it’s happening. I don’t worry about failure – I thrive on failure! If something goes wrong, I always think you can fix it. It hurts, it’s scary, but then you can do anything,” Clarke, who co-founded medical charity SameYou for survivors of brain injuries, added. Read More Duchess of York ‘proud’ to launch breast cancer campaign on Loose Women Doctor highlights most commonly misdiagnosed health conditions in women Mom explains how to ‘raise your baby like it’s your third’ Duchess of York ‘proud’ to launch breast cancer campaign on Loose Women Doctor highlights most commonly misdiagnosed health conditions in women Mom explains how to ‘raise your baby like it’s your third’

The Duchess of York will make her debut on ITV’s Loose Women to launch a breast cancer awareness campaign following her treatment for the illness earlier this year. Sarah Ferguson underwent an eight-hour single mastectomy operation after discovering she had an early form of breast cancer during a routine mammogram. The special episode, billed as Ferguson’s first TV appearance since revealing her diagnosis, will launch its “Don’t Skip Your Screening” campaign to highlight the importance of being checked for cancer. The duchess will join presenters Christine Lampard, Coleen Nolan and Brenda Edwards on the show’s panel to discuss the campaign and her own experiences since being diagnosed with breast cancer. Ahead of the show on Thursday (2 November), Ferguson revealed she nearly skipped the screening appointment “that saved my life” adding that her cancer journey “underlines the importance of getting screened” regularly. “I couldn’t face a journey into London on a hot day this summer and it was only my sister Jane’s insistence that I went, that persuaded me,” the mother-of-two said. “My cancer was completely symptom-free – I never found a lump and did not feel ill.” Doctors noticed a “shadow” in one of her breasts during the screening in May, which was later diagnosed as cancer. Ferguson added that she is “proud” to support the campaign, which is being backed by NHS England, to encourage other women to attend the appointments when they are invited. In July, Ferguson confirmed she underwent an eight-hour-long single mastectomy, adding that the diagnosis was “scary” for her daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, during an episode of her podcast Tea Talks. She said: “I think it’s scary for any family member out there, you really start looking at your own demise. It’s a wake up call, and you think, right okay, how am I going to deal with this?” Ferguson also advised her listeners to “do the screening, catch it quick”, while thanking the medical professionals at King Edward VII’s Hospital in London for their care and treatment. Earlier this year, Ferguson also explained how the mastectomy helped her overcome the “self-hatred that stemmed from years of being compared to Diana. During a separate episode of her podcast, Ferguson suggested she had to have a “body part cut off” before she could “wake up”. She told her co-host, Sarah Thompson: “Not because of seeing death, but waking up to stop worrying, stop self-hatred, stop self-doubt, stop all these things. Stop not liking yourself, really, please, honestly. “Does it take that?... Yes, it did in my case,” Ferguson continued. “[I] didn’t like myself and that was because I think I was always compared to Diana and I think at the end I sort of believed my own press which is not too good.” Charity Breast Cancer Now said it is “extremely grateful” that the show is “shining a bright spotlight on breast screening” and “highlighting the important issue of tackling the shortfall in women having breast screening caused by the Covid-19 pandemic”. In a statement, it added: “Breast screening is a vital tool in helping to detect breast cancer at the earliest possible stage, when treatment is more likely to be successful. “We encourage all women to attend breast screening appointments when invited and to regularly check their breasts, reporting any unusual changes to their GP as soon as possible.” The duchess will join the panel on Loose Women on 2 November from 12:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX. Read More Sarah Ferguson shares heartfelt tribute to Matthew Perry following his death Doctor highlights most commonly misdiagnosed health conditions in women Mom explains how to ‘raise your baby like it’s your third’ Doctor highlights most commonly misdiagnosed health conditions in women Mom explains how to ‘raise your baby like it’s your third’ ‘It was terrifying’: All the things Jada Smith Pinkett has said about her alopecia

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One mom is exposing her secrets for first-time parents. In an interview with Today, mother of three Caroline Chambers opened up about the difficulties she endured with her first-born child. Although it’s very normal for mothers to experience certain symptoms related to postpartum, Chambers’ year of anxiety after delivery felt particularly difficult. “The first year of my child’s life was plagued with so much anxiety and fear,” she said. “Of course, I was obsessed with him and had so many amazing moments of just loving it, but there was also just a lot of fear around the unknown.” Despite the cookbook author’s prior struggles, she was still keen to grow her family. By the time her second child, Callum, was born, she’d gained a new perspective on being a parent. “None of it matters. They’re going to sleep eventually. None of it is actually a pattern. You can’t actually diagnose it. You can’t actually Google your way into better sleep. It just takes time,” she recalled to the outlet. Chambers is a mother to three sons: Mattis, five, Callum, three, and Cashel, one. While feeding schedules and nap times for her son Mattis were overwhelming and stress-inducing, Callum’s care was a “more joyful” experience for her, having already known what works and what doesn’t for newborns. The intuitive mother recognised that both parenthood and being a mother is “terrifying the first time because you don’t know what to expect”. Still, she explained that welcoming more children into her life helped her learn that babies aren’t the “precious little fragile creatures that we think they are.” Chambers took to her Instagram account last April, revealing her tips for raising your first child like your third. First, she suggested taking opportunities to “leave your baby”. Chambers emphasised the importance of taking time for yourself and allowing babysitters to take over for a few hours, so you can either go on a solo date or enjoy time with your partner. “Your husband isn’t the enemy. The baby is the enemy,” Chambers jokingly wrote. For her next tip, she said that “this too shall pass.” According to Chambers, each phase for a baby is fleeting, lasting around “two weeks and it’s on to the next thing”. Chambers also told her followers not to leave the house chores for when your baby asleep. Not only will this feel like you’re being overworked without any breaks, but Chambers pointed out how babies don’t mind watching you vacuum or do the dishes. “Put on your oxygen mask first,” she continued. “You can’t take care of your baby if you can’t take care of yourself. Take a shower. Eat delicious meals with lots of greens and protein. If you feel sad, call your OB and tell her about those feelings... Get a blowout. Go get lunch or dinner by yourself.” Lastly, Chambers urged mothers not to fall victim to the “four Bs of a bedtime routine” and maintained that following the sequence of “bath, boob/bottle, book, bed” isn’t necessary. “As long as the baby is fed and in bed, they will not care how you get them there. Dunked in the bath once a week, they are FINE,” she wrote. Many thankful mothers chimed in, adding their own advice and experience after Chambers encouraged them to do so in her caption. “Love this!!!!! We bathe our baby one to two times a week. MAX. I’d also add: the whole eat, play sleep order is BS! Don’t stress about it. Feed when they need it. Love following you & learning mama,” one mother noted. Another commented: “For the toddler phase: Tell them, ‘I’m going to close my eyes and when I open them, I’ll see… (insert whatever you’re trying to get them to do)”. This ALWAYS works for my kiddo when I need him to put on his clothes, go to the bathroom, etc. It’s magic!” The Independent has reached out to Chambers for a comment. Read More People rally around mother who explained why she ‘hates being a mom sometimes’ Princess Eugenie apologises as she makes motherhood confession ‘It was terrifying’: All the things Jada Smith Pinkett has said about her alopecia ‘It was terrifying’: All the things Jada Smith Pinkett has said about her alopecia Scientists say we’ve all been using sunscreen wrong in new cancer warning If being without your phone fills you with dread, you could have nomophobia

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