Linda and Anne Nolan bravely discuss facing cancer together in exclusive chat with Lorraine
Brave sisters Linda and Anne Nolan joined today’s Lorraine to discuss their ongoing cancer treatment.
Speaking of her health Linda said: “I’m doing great thank you. Thank god for make-up this time of morning.
“I’ve had my chemo, it’s gone according to plan. I’m just waiting for the results of scans that I’ve had to see if the chemo has worked.”
Making jokes throughout the interview Anne said of having a sense of humour throughout: “I think you have to really. It’s been really amazing being able to speak to Linda about the prognosis and I phone her up and say, ‘Oh gosh, I’ve got this sensation in my fingers and toes’ – it’s being able to phone her up and say, ‘Have you got this?’ That’s been great, being able to do stuff like that.”
Speaking of the loss of their sister Bernie to cancer, Linda said: “I once remember Bernie saying - we miss her every minute of every day - I do remember someone saying to Bernie, ‘Your poor family’. She said, ‘I’ve never said why me. Why not me?’
“Three sisters having breast cancer, we’ve had the gene test, we don’t have the BRCA1 or 2, there will be a rogue gene somewhere that we’ve got, they haven’t found it yet.”
Linda added: “Bernie was a warrior. You’d say, ‘Do you want some water?’ and she’d say, ‘No, I want some vodka and ginger ale.’”
Of going through treatment during the Covid pandemic, Anne said: “I suffered really badly with anxiety, I think it’s because of the Covid thing as well. Going through it in a pandemic when you can’t have family around…[last time] I was able to go out, have a good time. But you just have to take every day as it comes and be positive about the treatment that you’re having, even though it’s harsh and makes you ill, it’s to make you better. That’s the way to think about it. Whatever you’re going through is to make you better and to cure your cancer. My prognosis is very good at the moment. I had an operation about two weeks ago, the results were fabulous. They found no cancer in any of the tissue that they took from the breast and from my lymph nodes, and that was absolutely amazing. And that was because of the chemotherapy. The results were fantastic.”
Linda said: “People say to us, ‘Why do you talk about it so much?’ [It’s] our way of giving back to people… maybe if we can say something on TV or in a magazine that makes them go, ‘Oh, that’s normal, it’s ok to feel like that.’”
Of getting checked, Linda said: “Please don’t wait. Don’t be frightened. The longer you wait your treatment might be worse. Make an appointment and get in there. I have never not felt safe [in hospital during the pandemic].”
Anne added: “Cancer doesn’t wait. If you have a lump, go and get it checked. If it’s cancer, it’s not going to go away. If it’s not cancer, the doctor will tell you and you’ll feel relieved.”
She continued: “It’s very important, just go and get tested.”
Linda finished by saying: “Anne and I, even with our cancer, we’re having such a great time. We did the cruise [programme] which was brilliant. We’re just having a ball. We’ve got a box CD set coming out in December – women our age, we’re just thrilled about everything that’s happening at the moment.”
Find out how to check for the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.