Former Coronation Street star Beverley Callard fought back tears as she told fans she is "sick of having cancer" in a new social media update on her battle with the disease.
The actress, known for playing Liz McDonald in the ITV soap filmed in Salford, announced in February that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, ahead of her first appearance in the Irish soap Fair City. She underwent radiotherapy treatment over the summer.
Beverley has been documenting her journey on social media, having initially had surgery before completing a course of radiotherapy.
Struggling with symptoms and waiting for results
After struggling with a number of symptoms, including nausea, doctors advised her to have further scans of her stomach. At the end of last month, Beverley shared that she was still waiting for the results and had been so unwell that she had been forced to miss work for the first time.
In her latest update, she told followers that her mother-in-law, Christel, who had spent a month staying with her and her son, Jon McEwan, in Ireland, had now returned home. Beverley previously said she witnessed the 94-year-old break down in tears over her daughter-in-law's struggle.
The soap star explained how, as Jon accompanied his mother back to the UK, she suffered a low moment and fought tears as she described how she was feeling in her video to fans.
Emotional update on health and gratitude
She said: "While John's away, I was here with the dogs, and I just got this really self-indulgent moment of... I'm trying not to swear - 'S**t, I'm sick of having cancer' and, 'I'm sick of waiting for results and not knowing things'. I've got some results, by the way, my stomach is chronically inflamed, and they're sorting that out. There's bacteria there. It's not H. pylori, but apparently it's close to that. Load of people know what that is and thank you for all your messages."
"Anyway, I got completely self-indulgent and just thought, I'm angry now that this is happening to us, because Christel, even though she's a feisty stick of dynamite, she does need quite a lot of help in looking after, and she's been amazing, and then every now and again, she got quite tearful because she's worried about me."
"I couldn't have a better mother-in-law. I couldn't have a better husband. I could have a better job. Everybody is so kind and lovely to me. And then I just thought, 'Well, this is s**t!'".
Beverley added: "Anyway, I'm fine now. I'm fine. But also, I wanted to say to everyone, thank you so much for the messages you sent to Christel via my Instagram and TikTok. Do you know, we took her shopping one day and we came back and she said, 'Beverly, I understand how we feel now'. She said, 'Because it's so hard being famous!'"
"She's 94 years old, and she thinks it's great. She loves it. Somebody is thinking about making a television programme about her, and she just thinks it's brilliant. So, thank you to everyone. And honestly, I really mean that. I'm back at work tomorrow, so I'll be firing on all cylinders and not self-indulgent, for want of a better word."
Beverley was flooded with messages of love and support as she captioned her post: "A bit of an emotional one today... Feeling a little rubbish, but trying to find the positives. And a lovely little message from Christel at the end to lift our spirits."
