Linda Nolan: Cancer is back in my liver...
IT WAS the news she had been dreading: sitting opposite her oncologist, Linda Nolan was told new cancer tumours had appeared in her liver.
When the star, who has incurable secondary breast cancer, got home she closed her front door and sobbed her heart out.
As she comes to terms with the latest setback in her 14- year fight with the disease, the singer says: “I knew when I went into the room for my appointment, because I could tell from the consultant’s demeanour.
“It’s scary, I’m not going to lie. I try to be upbeat and positive but I had a really bad day when I got back.”
Linda tried to put on a brave face to her famous Nolan siblings.
“I told my sisters I was fine but when I got inside my house, I cried,” she says. “I needed to have that cry because I’m scared to death of dying.”
The 61- year- old star has faced breast cancer in 2006, cellulitis and lymphoedema in her arm in 2007 and secondary cancer on her pelvis in 2017.
In March this year, she discovered the cancer had spread to her liver for the first time.
She underwent chemotherapy but just days ago was given the dreaded news. Now she has started a new round of treatment.
The star hasn’t asked for a prognosis, saying: “I don’t want to know if I’ve got 18 months, two years or whatever. It’s bad enough thinking about it all in my head.
“All I want for Christmas is to be around for a few more Christmases. That would be the best present of all.
“The consultant was very upbeat and said there was no way we were talking about the last year of my life.”
Cancer has given Linda a fresh outlook on life. She takes her dog Betty Boo, a gift from her sister Coleen, for a walk every day and has vowed to enjoy every moment she can, feeling free to say no to jobs that interfere with precious family time. And we can reveal Linda, who lost her husband Brian back in 2007, has even started dating again.
Of one potential match, she says: “We met the other day in the park. We took Betty for a walk.
“It was nice and I might see him again but I wouldn’t want to get too involved with anybody at the moment because I don’t know how long I’m going to be here.
“I’ve had the love of my life but it would be nice to have somebody to spend time with.”
The star is determined to be open about her cancer journey to ensure others don’t feel so alone.
“I can’t imagine having to go through this on your own,” she says. “I’ve had so many beautiful messages on social media. There are a couple of women I speak to, I am helping them through their chemo.”
Linda is part of a famously tight family made up of sisters Bernie, Anne, Denise, Maureen and Coleen and brothers Tommy and Brian. The sisters, who sold 30 million records worldwide as The Nolans, recently filmed a docu- series.
At Home With The Nolans will see them look into whether there is a cancer gene in the family and search for the half- sister they’ve never met.
It will also focus on Anne and Linda’s cancer journeys. Linda says: “I filmed the whole series without my wig.”
Her sisters have been so impressed, she says. “The only one who’s called me baldy is my four- year- old great niece, Roma.
“She was rolling on the floor laughing out loud when she saw me. Kids make you realise none of it matters.”
Anne, who beat breast cancer 20 years ago, was diagnosed with stage three once again in April. “My family has been desolate,” says Linda. “We’ve been through so much. I’m crying now talking about it.” Unlike Linda, Anne’s cancer is curable and she was recently told it had all but disappeared.
“I’m delighted for Anne,” says Linda. “It was great to get the news.” Linda feels her sister Bernie, who died from breast cancer back in 2013, would be willing her on against the disease, along with her late husband. “It would only be real positive thoughts,” she says. And she adds: “We all wonder what happens when we die. I think I’ll go up to a beautiful garden in heaven and Bernie will be waiting with a gin and tonic for me. Then Brian will walk round the corner with my mum and dad. I’m desperate to see Brian again, but I’m not ready just now.”
At Home With The Nolans, Tuesdays, 10pm, Quest Red