Jackie Collins Waited Two Years to See a Doctor After Finding a Lump in Her Breast

Just days before she died at age 77 on Sept. 19, Jackie Collins made a startling revelation about her battle with breast cancer.

In a recent interview with People, Joan Collins‘ younger sister confessed she waited two years to see a doctor after discovering a lump in her breast because she felt “completely doctor-phobic.”

Jackie and her sister Joan in April 2014.

“I thought, ‘I’m not dealing with this,’ because in my mind I decided it was benign. I’ve had to deal with losing my mother (to breast cancer), my husband (prostate cancer) and my fiancé (lung cancer) and I did not want to put pressure on everybody in the family. So I happily, happily went day by day,” she told the magazine in a sit-down five days before she passed away.

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Though Jackie — who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 — waited to see a doctor, she hoped she would inspire other women to be proactive about breast cancer detection and prevention by sharing her story.

Jackie at a book signing in June 2015.

“Women should get checkups because it really helps to get diagnosed early,” the best-selling author. “I know we’re all told to do it, but some of us are too stupid, and I was one of them.”

“That was my choice and maybe it was a foolish one, but it was my choice. Now I want to tell people it shouldn’t be their choice,” Jackie added.