Cancer survivor Kylie Minogue has thanked her fans for supporting her during her ordeal and said that her illness has made her realize how lucky she was to have diagnosed the condition in time.

In her first TV interview after a grueling year of chemotherapy and radiation, the pop star said, “Thank you to people who are watching. I had letters, like gorgeous little letters from children: ‘We don’t want doctors to put needles in you and we love your songs, when are you back on stage?’ And from women who have been through breast cancer, from women who were diagnosed after my diagnosis.�?

The 38-year-old singer admitted that things would have been different if her condition was not caught in time. “I feel had I not discovered (the tumor) until a little later, the story might be very different. So, overall I feel that I was saved. I really was,�? she said, but added that she still had miles to go before she regained her health. “I have to get on that walking machine. I don’t have strength, I don’t have stamina, I don’t have everything I took for granted before. I’ve got a mountain to climb, but I don’t fancy hanging around at the bottom of the mountain,�? Minogue asserted.

Another good that came out of the unfortunate incident was that the Australian pop singer is now able to bond better with children who are fighting a battle against the malignant disease. “I think I was pretty compassionate before but now I have a much deeper understanding of what it is to have a trial to go through. Now when I visit the children’s hospital, which I always used to do before, they know that I know,�? Minogue said.

She also offered some useful advice to women who live fast and stressful lives that have become the norm these days. Minogue said that breast cancer can affect younger women too and regular check-ups was the key to beating the disease. “When I was still in Australia – I was there for a couple of months – I would meet with my surgeon, have check-ups and I’d say, ’so how are you?’ He said, ‘Oh, I’ve been so busy. You wouldn’t believe it. I’ve had a 25-year-old, a 22-year-old (diagnosed with breast cancer)’. So, I had people already whose lives were potentially saved just by becoming more aware,�? she said, expressing happiness that her illness had helped create greater awareness about the disease.

Minogue will embark on her Showgirl tour this November, more than a year after it was scheduled. The tour was postponed indefinitely in May when the singer was diagnosed with breast cancer.