'I can finally dye my hair again - it's little things that make me feel normal'

20 September 2023 , 17:40

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Linda Nolan (Image: mirror.co.uk)

By the time you read this I may* have gone platinum.

Not record sales - sorry girls. Hair. Because the downy fluff that began to coat my head a few weeks ago has now reached the length of a plucky number two, and I’m really not so keen on the grey which has accompanied it. (I can’t think where that’s come from). I lost my hair after radiotherapy, but chemo hasn’t scared it away completely, so why not embrace my inner Marilyn?

I’ve grown in confidence after shaving my head, and haven’t been bothered to wear a wig. But my entire life begins and ends with cancer, and little things that make me feel a bit normal again really help. I’ve always been the blonde Nolan, so why not again? Blonde is a thread that links me to the woman I was before.

Last week I met with two friends from the charity Hug in a Bag, which I’ve been patron of for over ten years. I call them my bag ladies. Not sure they like that. The charity started in Sunderland and they fundraise to create bags full of goodies for anyone diagnosed with breast cancer in areas of the North East.

Linda as her hair started to grow back

Women get a beautiful pashmina, oils, bubbles, eyebrow make-up, eyeliner. I remember taking one to Bernie and she used that make-up until she couldn’t do it anymore. Those bags are designed to give both men and women a little of themselves back. A little of the normal, the human, which is all any of us in this position really want.

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This last week those normal, ‘me’ moments also came in forms. One came at Blackpool’s annual World Fireworks Championship down on the promenade, where the incredible display reflecting in the sea transported me back to being a little girl looking at the Illuminations with chips and gravy.

And another came when I picked up Maureen’s grandchildren from school. Such a routine thing. “Aunty Linda, we haven’t seen you for ages!” my great niece squealed, running over. She could have given me 50 quid and it wouldn’t have come close to what that meant to me.

* If the hairdresser hasn’t ruled scalp-burning a very real possibility.

Linda Nolan