Beverley Callard has experienced a 'down day' amid her ongoing cancer battle, but the Coronation Street star and her husband, Jon McEwan, turned the situation around by inviting friends over for drinks and a barbecue.
The 69-year-old actress, who revealed her early-stage breast cancer diagnosis in February, attended her first oncology appointment on Thursday. Earlier this week, Callard, who recently moved to Ireland to star in the RTE soap opera Fair City, mentioned a delay in treatment due to her medical records taking time to arrive from England.
In a social media update, it was Jon who spoke to the camera while Beverley chatted with friends in the background. He said: 'We've been to the hospital, got some news, trying to start radiotherapy as soon as they can. But we've come home, we've got some friends here. It's been a down day, but I've made Sangria, we're cooking a barbecue and Beverley is like [pans camera around].'
The former I'm A Celebrity...South Africa star waved to the camera and yelled: 'Cheers!' as her friends joined in. When asked how much Sangria they had consumed, Beverley exclaimed: 'It's the fifth jug, there could be more!' Jon concluded: 'Sometimes, you've just gotta let go.'
Beverley captioned the post: 'Sometimes all you need is @jonmmac60, good friends and 5 jugs of sangria! It feels like it's been a long week, but this was a pretty good ending to a day of mixed feelings! F*** cancer!' In an Instagram Story, she danced with friends and declared: 'Me and my best friends say 'F*** cancer! I'm drunk!'
Fans flooded the comments with support. One wrote: 'Enjoy your night I've been with you through your journey you've been so inspiring hope radiotherapy goes well you'll be amazing breathing in therapy xx.' Another said: 'Blessings to you Beverly We love you.' A third added: 'Keep smiling and keep fighting,' and a fourth commented: 'You all deserve a few sangria! cheers to better times.'
Earlier, Beverley had updated fans after her oncology appointment: 'They're trying to get me my first appointment for radiotherapy tomorrow but it could be next week, so it's imminent. Everything was really great, they treated me so well and I've had loads of other ladies, and ladies' husbands, coming up, who are all going through the same thing and we were all chatting.'
Callard first revealed her diagnosis in February on RTE's Late Late Show, explaining she received the news just before filming for Fair City. She said: 'I've had some tests just before I left the UK, and literally, 15, 20 minutes before I was in my dressing room at Fair City, getting ready to go on, and I was quite nervous and thinking, 'I hope everybody thinks I'm all right', whatever. And my consultant rang me and said, 'you've got to come back to the UK' I said, 'Well, I can't possibly, I've just taken a new job'. I said 'I'm away for a month', and I was diagnosed with breast cancer. But I'm fine, I'm absolutely fine. My head was a bit mashed for the first few days. It's very early stages, and I'm along with thousands of other women as well.'
If you have been affected by this story, advice and support can be found at Breast Cancer Support.
