Renee your photo is lovely.
I was very sorry to hear of Sally’s news yesterday…I can’t believe how she managed to play the role as she did whilst going through this herself…I did watch it and thought she had played the part so well…I wish her all the best in her future recovery and return to work…we all know what a challenge that can be…
Fiona xxxx
I know previously there were alot of women on this site thought the portrayal on corrie was not good or beffiting for the majority (see older prev posts).
This journey is personal and one we all would not wish on anyone, and yes some do still wear make up.
Having been almost in stage 4 and surviving of which I thought nye on impossible as well as mastectomy & lymph node removal (level 3) chemo first due to the state of the mass in breast and lymph nodes followed by rads and herceptin since feb 10 and will for next yr plus 8yrs of further hormone treatment I wouldnt wish on my worst enemy.
but there is a big failure to show breast cancer in its real light I’m sorry but its true and for the majority no matter how decent and lady like we want to continue to be it rips us to shreds at some point and its high time with all cancers this was shown.
dont get me wrong, I too dress up and try to be normal, but for the purpose of education lets show it as it is.
my heart goes out to everyone in this not so exclusive club.
it does not matter rich or poor, beggarman or theif its horrid,but if me, little me could get the tv/paper time, I would be lively, fun but tell and show how it really is.
people locally see the real me and thank me for showing or telling them what its really like. I guess thats just my way and does not suit everyone!!!
xxxx
Hi Everyone, Been reading all the posts with great interest. I didn’t know until recently that Sally was suffering from cancer in real life, I think she did a great job at Christmas, although I do have to agree with Jo68 about the portrayal of this dreadful disease on the media. Every soap opera has covered this story at some point, Emmerdale, Eastenders etc. The drama goes on for a few weeks, they have the operation (looking fabulous all the time) and then it’s never, ever mentioned again. They never seem to have to go for chemo and show themselves wearing scarves or suffering the pain which we all go through whether it’s chemo, rads, whatever. It drives me nuts!
This is my second run-in with this disease, I had it eighteen years, mast, chemo, rads, tamoxifen and now the clever little buggers have silently crept into my liver and spine. Bummer! I also wear my makeup everyday even though I don’t always feel like it and fortunately I have not lost my hair although it’s in terrible condition as are my nails and my eyelashes are scrappy and I’ve lost quite a few.
I just wish for once, they would show the real effects of it on the tv so I’m with you there Jo68.
Good luck to everyone, hope you are all feeling good today. Lots of love and hugs. Dianne x x x
I too want to join in with sending my best wishes to Sally. I thought she looked great minus her headscarf. Funnily enough I was not surprised about her diagnosis as I think if she hadnt have been going through it herself she would have talked more about her storyline in the press.
Thanks for the compliment ms molly.
Reneexx
how are you doing renee? hope things are good with you
pic is cracking xxx
Hi Monica,
nice to hear from you and thanks for the compliment, hope you have recovered from your hospital stay.
I am doing not too badly, still very tired, can’t seem to shake it but only have 2 chemo sessions to go then i will be on a break, don’t know how long for but hope it’s for a while.
How are you doing, well i hope. It won’t be long till hopefully we get away for a week or so, i know i could do with a wee break, have you any plans for a holiday over the summer, i am still reading all the posts but not posting much myself, mostly because i’m never sure what to say.
Better not forget this post is about sally whittaker, i was really shocked when i heard about her and i hope she keeps well.
Lots of love Monica.
Reneexx
I too am shocked to learn, through this thread, that Sally has got BC in real life. This horrible disease seems to be positively rampant these days and I often wonder why, or has it always been the case but people just didn’t talk about it fifty years ago.
Anyway I send my best wishes to Sally and her family and hope she is back on our screens again soon.
I was never particularly a fan of Sally in Corrie, just didnt like the part she played but was obviously glued to the screen during the breast cancer storyline over christmas, I am welling up thinking of her playing that part and knowing she had been diagnosed with the disease also, how awful for her, will see her through new eyes now, I wish her good luck and really thinking about her. I thought she looked good in Hello magazine and admire her courage for showing her bare head, I couldnt show anyone first time round, was so embarrassed with the hairloss and now coming up to it again, i dont know how i will fair, I just hope I can think of myself instead of thinking of everyone elses reactions for a change.
Max
The actress who plays Sally Webster has done an interview for GMTV. I thought she did really, really well. It can’t have been easy for her to go on and talk about her experience but she did. No dramatics or being dismissive of the chemo etc. SHe also put across really well how in the pre-dx days you think it can’t be you and it’s just “making a fuss” over nothing. I could identify with an awful lot of what she was saying but couldn’t have put it half as well myself. I was thinking a lot today about my mum who had bc in 1983 - back then, it was hardly even discussed and very little was known about the disease itself and how to recognise and deal with early signs. THank God that we’ve come such a long way since then and how refreshing to see it being discussed in a sensible and realistic way.
I have to say I watched the interview on tele and am with Jo. It’s time they stopped
portraying the luckier ones stories and show that this disease kills. Young women like myself and my pal
too with babies left behind. I remember when I first came on
here I had primary dx and was v pos and not phased by it. I felt proud to be battling it openly and
recall reading a thread where a debate was ongoing about the glamourisation of breast cancer.
So I think Jo has a truly valid point in that the truly
devestating nature if this disease is never shown. It’s all
pink and glam and u can beat it, it’s one of the best ones to
get so I would say that we aren being nasty but with sec
dx comes a bitterness and sense if cruel injustice and to see all these celebs being
so brave and pos just irritates.
I pray that no woman gets secondaries as it’s a living Nightmare.
I am mid thirties with three young kids. Grade 3 initially with 15 of 23 nodes affected and 7cm tumour. Now liver
meta five months in. That’s the harsh reality that’s never portrayed.
Grade 4 doesn’t get mentioned in the media.
I agree any way to raise money fir research is great but let’s try to see it from
all sides. I talk from the experience of going from two very diff outlooks. Sec cancer is a while diff ballgame.
Excuse my typos but this I phone isn’t
easy with my chubby thumbs xxxx
I’ve seen a couple of interviews that Sally had done, and I have to say I’m irritated by the way she states that she feels ‘really, really well’ as if she’s just come out from a health farm rather than the horrors of chemo.
Apart from that, I admire her and think she’s probably a very nice person.
Lol that’s very true it was all too good to be true especially one part about great anti sickness xxx it’s a very personal thing I suppose but yes it was a bit like that
I don’t watch much TV and have never seen Coronation Street, but I did watch this interview online. She certainly was very positive and stressed that she felt “really really well” as Steph has said. Its always going to be disappointing when a person in the public eye doesn’t take a hard line. But, in her defense:
-
She’s an actress and her future earning capacity relies on her being fit and well. No-one wants to cast someone who’s going to be a challenge health-wise during filming, so - of course - she is going to emphasise the positive. Its frustrating, but why should we expect her to put her career at risk?
-
How many of us have tried to speak out to friends and family in the way we do on here? I have and it caused all kinds of hurt, bewilderment, anger and upset. I acknowledge that its this aspect which makes this a lonely journey, but it takes a particular sort of trust and respect to tell (and hear) the hard truth. If you have someone you can speak to in that way - hang on to them and cherish them for they are truly special (and not in a hand clapping kinda way).
Debs x
I agree with what you say Debs, she has to stress that she’s well now especially for career purposes. I suppose I’m being picky, but I wish she could have balanced the statement by saying how chemo really is, and then adding that she’s well now, otherwise will the public think it’s all a breeze?
I too think that perhaps telling people she felt well is not the whole truth, but perhaps Sally Whittaker feels a bit of responsibility to the general public who may be hanging on her every word, particularly if she wants to encourage more women to take up screening and go to their doctors if concerned about their breasts. If she was totally frank with her experience, it may well scare off people. Also, I do think Debs has a point with not wanting to make too much of it in case it effects her career? Perhaps, she does actually feel better than she thought she would and dont forget, she may want to convince herself that she is well and by keep telling people, it will become a self fulfilling prophecy?
^ True, maybe I’m a little envious as her chemo’s all done and dusted and I’ve still got 3 months to go and feeling sh*t.
I’m turning into a bitter and twisted old cow!
Debs - I’m different. If anyone asks how I’m feeling, I tell them straight, they’ve asked, I tell. But I don’t go on about it, just say occasionally.
There is definitely a disproportionately high number of “celebrity bc” interviews where they are recently dx’d and currently with no secondary dx. If it were more balanced then surely one in three celebrity bc interviews would be about someone at the secs stage (assuming women then are equally willing to come forward and talk about it) thus not denying the reality of this horrible disease.
However, I think that interviews like Sally Whittaker’s are still very important for raising awareness of early dx and I think they are also helpful to many of the women recently dx’d with primary bc. I agree entirely though that it’s unbalanced and unfair to only ever portray women with primary dx and a good prognosis.