Coleen Nolan: My sister has cancer again
Tearful Coleen reveals sister’s cancer battle
COLEEN Nolan broke down in tears as she revealed her sister Linda has secondary cancer – having already beaten the disease once before.
The Loose Women star said she had been dealt the “earth shattering” blow a fortnight ago, when doctors discovered Linda had a pelvic cyst. But the Nolans have vowed to “fight as a family”.
Linda, 58, has been clear of breast cancer for six years. She has been told the new cancer is treatable, but not curable. Coleen, 52, explained Linda had broken her hip during a fall on stairs at home two-and-a-half weeks ago.
On Loose Women yesterday, Coleen said: “She went to hospital and when they did the scan of her hip, they found secondary cancer.
“They found a cyst attached to where the break was, on her pelvis, so it was just earth-shattering for us initially.”
Coleen added: “The positive thing is, although it is not curable, it is treatable and it hasn’t spread anywhere else.
“Linda wants to get it across she’s not dying of cancer, she’s living with cancer. They’ve said it’s treatable and she could have years. We have to focus on that.”
Speaking about Linda’s bravery, Coleen said: “She’s incredible. She’s had to cancel all her work. Her whole life had turned around, she’d had her great face lift and turned a corner from losing her husband.”
Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006 and had a mastectomy and chemotherapy. Her husband Brian Hudson lost a battle with skin cancer in 2007 – the same year the Nolan sisters’ mum Maureen died. Coleen said: “I think the thing that broke my heart was she sent a text... at the end of it she put, ‘I’m so sorry, I feel so guilty to put you all through this again’.” The family lost their sister Bernie to breast cancer in 2013. And sister Anne also battled the condition. Coleen said Linda did not want to compare the two situations: “It was a completely different cancer and Bernie’s had spread. Linda’s hasn’t. Like Bernie, Linda’s so strong. She’s had her down days don’t get me wrong, but she’s being really positive. As much as I’m crying now and shaking, we’ve also had moments of hilarity. We have to laugh.” Speaking about her initial reaction to the news, Coleen said: “I went through such terrible anger, I was angry at the world, angry at cancer, angry for her.”
The Nolan family have rallied around Linda to support her throughout her ordeal. Coleen said: “We messaged each other. My older brother said, ‘oh God, here we go again, but we’ll do it’. “And we will – we’ll fight as a family. “So if there’s weeks I’m not here [on Loose Women] it’s because Linda and the family need me. I’m very privileged to have a job where I can do that, because some people don’t.”
The stress of the news meant Coleen suffered a violent allergic reaction.
Showing viewers a photo of her swollen and red face, she explained: “I got a stress-related allergy, so I got taken to hospital. But I’m not sitting here saying feel sorry for me because Linda is going through a lot more stress, physically and mentally than me.”
She’s not dying of cancer, she’s living with it. We will fight this COLEEN NOLAN ON SISTER LINDA’S CANCER