Linda Nolan admits she won't survive cancer for a third time

Linda Nolan says cancer has become a ‘way of life’ as she admits she won’t survive the disease for a third time: ‘I rang that bell twice, I know I won’t be ringing it again’

Linda Nolan has told how cancer has become a ‘way of life’ for her and admitted she’ll never beat it as she gave a health update amid her third battle with the disease.  

The singer, 64, was first diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer in 2005 before getting the all-clear in 2006. But in 2017 she was diagnosed with a form of incurable secondary cancer in her hip, which spread to her liver in 2020.

Earlier this year, she revealed the cancer has spread to her brain, with two tumours discovered on the left side of her brain which has left her struggling with her speech and balance. 

But in a heartbreaking confession, Linda believes she won’t survive cancer for a third time, remarking: ‘I rang that bell twice. And I know now I won’t be ringing it again.’

Linda initially gave an update after getting some test results on Monday, revealing her elation that the cancer was at bay for now and had not grown.

Heartbreaking: Linda Nolan has told how cancer has become a ‘way of life’ for her and admitted she’ll never beat it as she gave a health update amid her third battle with the disease (pictured in 2020)

Battle: Linda Nolan has told how cancer has become a ‘way of life’ for her and admitted she’ll never beat it as she gave a health update amid her third battle (pictured in 2022)

Candid: In a heartbreaking confession, Linda believes she won’t survive cancer for a third time, remarking: ‘I rang that bell twice. And I know now I won’t be ringing it again’ (pictured 2020)

The Nolan Sisters left to right: Maureen, Linda, Coleen and Bernie pose with their two brothers Tommy and Brian  in 1981

She wrote in her latest column for The Mirror: ‘The relief rolled over me like a wave. Thank God. My tumours are stable and haven’t got any bigger. The chemo is keeping them at bay for now. So, we carry on. Every three weeks, for as long as I can tolerate it.’

Describing how she is is so used to living with cancer, she continued: ‘I went off to have my sixth cycle then. It’s become a way of life now. I have my cancer book – a title I never thought I’d have in my library – with all my bloods, weight and so on recorded (I’ve lost 4kg, although I reckon I could live off what’s left for some time).’ 

After praising her nurses, Linda told how she watches other cancer patients who’ve overcome the disease and have rang the chemotherapy belly, admitting that she won’t be ringing it herself for a third time.

She said: ‘I people-watch, listen to the bleeps and the clapping when those finishing treatment ring the bell. That’s lovely, I’m always happy for them, but I rang that bell twice. And I know now I won’t be ringing it again.’

The TV personality added she wasn’t ‘angry’ with her fate, adding everyone is on their own ‘pathways’ on the ‘chemo ward conveyor belt’, noting her path ‘runs straight ahead’ for now.  

Linda underwent a mastectomy and 18 rounds of chemotherapy after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and lost her husband Brian in 2007 and younger sister Bernie 2013 to cancer, while her eldest daughter Anne overcame the illness. 

Positive: In her column, Linda initially gave an update after getting some test results on Monday, revealing her elation that the cancer was at bay for now and had not grown

Reflection: The TV personality added she wasn’t ‘angry’ with her fate, adding that everyone is on their own ‘pathways’ on the ‘chemo ward conveyor belt’

Family: The Nolan Sisters are pictured in 1981 [back left to right Maureen, Anne and the late Bernie, front left to right Linda and Denise]

Hot stuff: Linda became known as ‘Naughty Nolan’ due to her racy photoshoots (pictured in 1984)

Back in July, Linda revealed she’s shaved her head after losing her hair for the fourth time while battling incurable cancer. 

The singer was told by doctors in March that she had two sizeable masses surrounded by smaller ones on her brain, nearly 20 years after she was first diagnosed with cancer.

Speaking in an interview, Linda discussed how she had taken back control with the help of her hairdresser friend but is still ‘devastated.’

She told The Mirror: ‘My friend who is a hairdresser came round and just shaved it. Then I said “Get me a cap, we’re going out for a drink!”

‘I just feel, because I’ve been having steroid treatment as well and my face is swollen, I look like Mrs Potato Head.’ 

She added: ‘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.

Linda was due to start taking a new ‘wonder drug’ alongside ‘another chemotherapy drug’ for her brain tumours and hoped it will give her ‘more time’.

In July, Linda revealed how her sister Coleen broke the news to the family that she was herself suffering from cancer. 

Linda, who often writes for the Mirror about her battle with cancer, wrote the column about her sister Coleen’s skin cancer.

Staying positive, she joked: ‘Upstaged, every time! In all seriousness, the news my little sister has now joined this particular club has shaken us all.’

Linda revealed that Coleen broke the news about her diagnosis during a family weekend away that she organised.

Soulmates: Linda married her late husband Brian Hudson in 1981, two years after meeting (pictured in 1981)

Tragic: Linda lost Brian to skin cancer in 2007, just one year after she was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time (pictured in 1984)

Talented: Taking her career to the West End, from 2000 she starred in the Blood Brothers as Mrs Johnstone, following in the footsteps of Bernie and Denise and preceding Maureen

Linda added: ‘We were sitting down to fish and chips, all 22 of us, because that’s the kind of classy family we are – they were actually in boxes, so very classy – and she just came out with it.’

‘I went, ‘Oh my God, well thanks for letting us know…!’ And she said ‘Well, I didn’t want to phone you and say, I have skin cancer’, to which I replied: ‘Yes indeed Coleen, this is my baby!’

Linda was relieved that Coleen shared her news to the family as she suspected it wasn’t the easiest news for her sister to share.

Talking about how close-knit her family is, Linda admitted how they make jokes out of the bad things because of their dark sense of humour.

Coleen’s has been diagnosed with a common skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma, after spotting a patch of discoloured skin on her shoulder.

A chance moment at a dermatologist appointment, which Coleen was attending for a different reason, led to the expert opinion and diagnosis.

Coleen’s family has been plagued with heartache surrounding cancer, after they lost their sister Bernie, while Linda is battling an incurable tumour and Anne fought stage three breast cancer three years ago. 

Sisters: Linda is battling an incurable tumour and Anne fought stage three breast cancer three years ago (Linda and Anne, pictured)

Family: The Nolan Sisters are pictured in 1981 [back left to right Maureen, Anne and the late Bernie, front left to right Linda and Denise]

Speaking on Loose Women, Coleen said: ‘I had my coat on and everything, I took my coat off and said, ‘Can you just check this on my shoulder I think it is a bit of eczema?’… And he said, ‘No that is basal cell carcinoma, you need to come back in’.

‘And all of a sudden you think, ‘No, no can you just say it’s eczema, please?,I didn’t come here for that’…

‘Anyway, I went back in and he was very good and he said, ‘Look, it is nothing to worry about, it is a cancer which doesn’t necessarily spread but you do need to treat it. We will treat it with cream’…

‘You know chemo cream, [he went on] ‘if that doesn’t work we will cut it out and give you a skin graft’. I mean it hits you like a ton of bricks.’

Coleen heartbreakingly uttered that she’s ‘sick of cancer’, after her sister Bernie tragically died from the disease in 2013, aged just 52, while her sister Linda, 64, is battling an incurable brain tumour.

Their other sister Anne, 72, was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer just days after Linda received her diagnosis, however she has since received the all-clear.

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