The sister of Linda Nolan, Maureen, warned women to visit their doctor if they have any breast concerns, revealing Linda’s diagnosis delay.
Linda’s breast cancer wasn’t caught early as she didn’t think a misshapen breast was a sign of cancer, explained Maureen.
Nolans singer Linda didn’t go to the doctor at the time, only to be diagnosed with cancer a year later.
She is currently living with incurable secondary cancer in the hip which has spread to the liver and brain.
Maureen, 69, said Linda, 64, thought a change in the appearance of her left breast was nothing to worry about.
It’s not necessarily just a lump, it can be a nipple that can look weird or a misshaped breast compared to the other one.
“The first time she had breast cancer, she didn’t have a lump, she had a misshapen sort of breast and she left it for quite a while because she thought, ‘Well I haven’t got a lump’,” Marueen told the Express. “It’s not necessarily just a lump, it can be a nipple that can look weird or a misshaped breast compared to the other one.
Don’t delay
“If you need to go then go, if it’s nothing it’s nothing, but if it’s something, you’ve caught it early.”
Linda wrote in her last memoir, Stronger Together, that she had delayed seeing the doctor due to her work commitments performing in panto in Ireland.
She said: “Instead of putting it to the top of my to-do list and calling up my GP to get it checked, I had left it for ages and ages and ages, a whole year to be exact…
“I kept torturing myself, about how, if I had gone to the doctor straight away when I had first found it, things would be different.”
Further heartache
During her first surgery for her breast cancer Linda had a single mastectomy and given the all clear in 2010. But in 2017, Linda faced further heartache, following a fall which revealed she had incurable secondary cancer in her hip.
In 2020 she was told the cancer had spread to her liver plunging her into a new chemotherapy treatment plan.
Linda is ‘doing great’
Earlier this year, doctors discovered two tumours in her brain. They are treating the tumours to keep them at bay and Linda is busy living her life to the full.
Maureen said The Nolans Go Cruising star “is doing great”.
She said: “She keeps going, obviously she has her days, she’s bound to, isn’t she? They’re keeping it all at bay at the moment, the chemo and stuff so let’s hope that continues.”
With so many in her family affected by the disease, Maureen is vigilant about her health.
She added: “I try to check myself and just try and get on with my life, enjoy my life. That’s the message from us.”
Read more: Coleen Nolan announces huge career news and issues update on ‘incredible’ sister Linda
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