Linda Nolan has opened up about how she is suffering from memory loss during her battle with cancer, but has vowed not to ‘live in fear’.
The 64-year-old singer was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2005, before being given the all-clear in 2006.
But in 2017 she was diagnosed with an incurable secondary cancer in her hip, before it spread to her liver in 2020 and then to her brain earlier this year.
Now Linda has opened up about how she is suffering from memory loss during her battle with the disease, as she spoke about forgetting her niece Ciara’s name.
She wrote inside The mirror: ‘I had to turn to Coleen’s son Jake’s girlfriend and ask her the name of my niece, Coleen’s daughter.
Tough times: Linda Nolan has opened up about how she suffered from memory loss during her battle with cancer, but has vowed not to ‘live in fear’
“My memory has been failing for a while, but that moment was as bad as it can be.”
But Linda stressed she won’t panic or live in fear amid her struggles as she shared how she wants to make the most of her time with her loved ones.
“I’m not going to panic because if I panic, the cancer wins,” she insisted. “I’m not going to live in fear because it will take over and I have to focus on making the most of the now.”
Linda also heartbreakingly shared how she is coming to terms with the fact that she may not see Coleen Nolan’s daughter Ciara again as her niece goes on a trip in January.
Linda recently shared that for the third time she doesn’t think she will survive cancer and said it has turned out that way a ‘way of life’ for her.
‘I sounded the alarm twice. And I know now that I won’t be calling again,” she wrote heartbreakingly in The Mirror.
“(Cancer has) now become a way of life. I have my cancer book – a title I never thought I would have in my library – which records all my blood counts, weight etc. (I have lost 4kg, although I think I could live on it for a while what’s left). ‘
The TV personality said she wasn’t “angry” about her fate and that everyone follows their own “path” on the “conveyor belt of the chemo department,” noting that her path is “straight ahead” for now.
‘If I panic, the cancer wins’: Linda insisted she won’t ‘panic’ or ‘live in fear’ amid her struggles, as she shared how she wants to make the most of her time with her loved ones to fetch
Family: Speaking of the memory loss, Linda said she forgot the name of her niece Ciara (Coleen’s daughter). She also shared her sadness about possibly not seeing her again
In March, Linda revealed her cancer had spread to her brain when she gave an update on her battle with cancer.
Doctors told her she had two large masses in her brain surrounded by smaller ones, almost two decades after she was first diagnosed with cancer.
Linda told presenters Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley on Good Morning Britain: ‘I’ve always been hopeful about my treatment and what’s going on in my life.
“I’m sad to tell you that my cancer has spread to my brain and that’s obviously scary because there isn’t much treatment for brain cancer other than chemotherapy.”
‘I do not give up. I am positive. I’m going to lose my hair for the fourth time,” she added.
She told ITV viewers: ‘I moved back in with my sister to live, I fell, the cancer in my brain affected my balance and I had three quite nasty falls.
‘So, as usual, my wonderful family, I am back living with my sister Denise and her partner. Maureen has taken care of me these past few weeks.
‘I bought a wheelchair, we are preparing for the inevitable. It’s a scary journey to be on, this one.’
Linda said she was trying to stay positive, adding: ‘I don’t know how long I have, and it’s not that I’m sickly or anything, but I don’t know, none of us really know.
Health: Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and was fully cleared in 2006. In 2017, she was diagnosed with secondary cancer before it spread to both her liver and brain
Fame: Linda rose to fame when The Nolans performed with her sisters Anne, 71, Denise, 69, Maureen, 67, and Coleen, 57 (pictured in November 1981)
‘For me it means making the most of every day and spending it with the people I love. Just be positive.’
Linda underwent a mastectomy and eighteen rounds of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005.
In 2017, Linda was diagnosed with incurable secondary cancer in her hip, and in 2020 she was confirmed to have liver cancer.
Linda rose to fame when The Nolans performed with her sisters Anne, 71, Denise, 69, Maureen, 67, and Coleen, 57.
Her sister Bernie was also a member, but died of breast cancer in 2013 at the age of 52. Anne was previously diagnosed with breast cancer, but is now in remission.