Coronation Street star Tracy Shaw broke down in tears during a trip to A&E. The actress, 52, who played Maxine Peacock on the ITV soap from 1995 until 2003, announced earlier this year that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and has now begun gruelling rounds of chemotherapy.
The former soap star took to Instagram with an update from a hospital bed, emotionally explaining how hard it can be to venture into the hospital when many who have minor ailments are also there. She said: 'So I'm in A&E, I had really really high temperatures yesterday and they spiked several times. I didn't want to go to A&E in the hot weather so my body has suffered today. As a consequence, I came in to A&E early this morning and I just want to say thank you to the NHS and everyone in the A&E department. It isn't easy coming in when we have cancer because there are a lot of people with - I'm not disregarding it - minor things, and some have just drank too much.'
Emotional Update from Hospital Bed
Shaw wiped away tears as she spoke of the realities of cancer treatment. She also enjoyed a brief pop career with a cover of the Lonnie Gordon track Happenin' All Over Again before appearing in Casualty, Doctors and theatre productions. She thanked staff who found a separate room for her but shared frustration that the air conditioning wasn't working during a heatwave and workmen were around without masks.
She added: 'Anyway, thank you to the NHS and all the staff. They've been amazing, and they have been able to put me in a separate room for now. It's really important to try and protect us. But I just wanted to raise a few things - the aircon isn't working in this hospital, and we've had workmen here outside my door and one guy was trying to do some work and when the nurse asked if she could close the door, he was really rude to her. Really rude to her. And then the nurse had to go away and it was 15 minutes before she got back.'
Frustrations with Hospital Environment
Shaw described how a workman placed his bag on a bin holding her door open. She said: 'He felt like he had a job to do, and he'd put his work bag on the bin which was holding my door open. I've normally got a mask on as well, but no one else has a mask on around me. Then I had three guys come in...the nurse said the aircon wasn't working and they said it was. Three guys just walked in, no masks, nothing. It wasn't working - she was right and in the end they went away and she asked if it was okay if they came back. I said 'With masks on!''
If you have been affected by this story, advice and support can be found at Breast Cancer Support.
