'My hair is growing back... I hope feeling ill is a sign the chemo is working'

23 August 2023 , 19:43

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Linda Nolan (Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)

Well, chemo No 5 down (that sounds a bit like Mambo No 5, but with A Little Bit Of…er, sickness). And, news just in, thanks to my wonky tastebuds, water now tastes salty. What next?

Worse still, ice-cream tastes of nothing. Nothing! There’s nothing better in my book than a Mr Whippy so this is a crushing turn of events. I’m sticking with it, but I can’t pretend it’s the same. Vegetables taste like nothing too, but funnily enough, I can live with that. Tastebuds aside, it’s been a gruelling week of side effects. This time, I began feeling ill last Tuesday, the morning following chemo. Just so lethargic. I had to cancel two meet-ups with friends, and a trip to Specsavers, and you know how important seeing people is to me. (So all of the above, rather important!)

The fluey feeling lasted until Thursday night. It may have been a little bug, I hope it’s not a sign of what’s to come. Getting out and about is what gets me through. When I’m hostage on the couch I start to think ‘Is this the beginning of a downward slope?’. Thank goodness for the Lionesses. Yes, it was bitterly disappointing to lose – I watched at home with Denise and Maureen and it was so disappointing. But watching them play these last few weeks has given me a real lift. They’ve been an inspiration to me, and I’m sure many others who are fighting their own battles.

My hair continues to grow back and I now have a tuft at the back – I like to think of it as my homage to a Lioness ponytail. I hope feeling ill is a sign the chemo is working, anyway. We’ll soon see. On Monday I faced my claustrophobia and had CT and MRI scans to check the growth of my tumours. I had to go inside The Tube .

They had the local radio on inside – sadly, no Nolans. It sounds like a pneumatic drill in there anyway so you can barely hear. But, miracles do happen – somehow, I drifted off. That probably proves how knocked out I’ve been. And another miracle happened, too. I scooped £137 at the bingo on Sunday! I haven’t won for years. Don’t worry, it won’t change me.

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Linda Nolan