Linda Nolan's 'terror' after incurable cancer spread to her brain like Bernie's

14 July 2023 , 16:51

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Linda Nolan's 'terror' after incurable cancer spread to her brain like Bernie's

Linda Nolan's incurable cancer, which was initially diagnosed as breast cancer back in 2005, has since has spread and become incurable.

Now, the singer has been told her cancer has spread to her brain – ten years after her sister Bernie died following her brain cancer journey.

Speaking candidly, the I'm in the Mood for Dancing singer has spoken about her recent diagnosis and revealed that she has shaved her hair off as she experiences hair loss for the fourth time in her life.

Linda, 64, is now possibly as well known now for her honesty about living with cancer as her pop career.

Linda Nolan was left terrified after receiving the news her cancer had spread to her brain (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)

Linda's sister Bernie battled brain cancer (Getty Images Europe)

The sixth of eight Nolan siblings, she was first diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2005. It returned as incurable secondary breast cancer in her hip in 2017 and spread to her liver in 2020 before doctors found two sizable tumours surrounded by smaller ones in her brain, this Spring.

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She also watched the disease take her husband Brian, and her sister Bernie, 10 years ago this month.

That Bernie’s cancer had also spread to her brain is not lost on Linda.

When she was first told of the spread she was terrified because of what she had seen Bernie go through. But she also dreamt of her sister and that brought comfort, and she laughingly recalls the jokes she shared with Bernie even in her final months.

Linda laughs a lot, even as she undergoes gruelling chemotherapy following the spread of cancer to her brain.

Linda has lost her hair for the fourth time (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)

But that doesn’t mean she’s not hurting, or angry, or scared. And the thing about Linda is she's open about that, too. Losing your hair gets no easier the fourth time around, she says.

She explains: "When we got back I was emotional. My sister Maureen said ‘Are you alright?’ and I couldn’t speak, then I said ‘Not really’. She came and sat beside me and put her arm around me. I just feel, because I’ve been having steroid treatment as well and my face is swollen, I look like Mrs Potato Head.

“People say, ‘Well you know you look great’, but inside I’m screaming ‘I just don’t want to lose my hair again!’ I was devastated at losing it.

“I have two lovely wigs, blonde, short, wigs, I will get them out - but I hate them. I check it’s on straight all the time, or if it’s warm I’m boiling. It’s been easier to wear the baseball cap.”

COMING THIS THURSDAY IN YOUR DAILY MIRROR: THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF LINDA NOLAN’S BRUTALLY HONEST AND BEAUTIFULLY-POIGNANT WEEKLY COLUMN

Emily Retter