Coronation Street star Beverley Callard has told fans she suffered a major dip in energy amid her breast cancer battle, saying: "I don't know what's going on."
The actress, 69, best known for playing Rovers Return landlady Liz McDonald on Coronation Street on and off for 30 years, revealed in February that she had been diagnosed with the early stages of the disease. Around the same time, she relocated to Ireland with her husband Jon McEwan to star as beautician Lily Patterson on Fair City. Since then, she has undergone an operation, recently completed radiotherapy treatment, and returned to her role on the soap.
Weekend plans cancelled
Over the weekend, the soap legend had made plans with friends to attend the theatre but pulled out just hours before because she didn't feel able to go. Speaking in a new update posted to Instagram on Monday, she said: "An update. Is it Monday? Oh yeah. I've had a good day today. I'm feeling good, I've been working on Zoom. But boy...what a weekend. I really plummeted. I've no idea why. On Saturday, we'd organised an amazing night out.
"We were going to see Riverdance, I was taking Jon because he'd never seen it before and we were taking some friends as our guests. We were going to meet the cast and everything. I was really excited for it. Saturday morning, I pressed my trousers, the whole lot. Honestly by 12 o'clock I was wiped completely and I just thought 'I can't go.' I had to let my friends down, I had to let the cast down. They'd organised everything. I just plummeted. I've got no energy, I've got aches in my ribs and in my back. I don't know what's going on."
Mental health struggles
The former I'm A Celebrity... star then found at the beginning of the week that she was suddenly full of energy but admitted she has been struggling with her mental health lately and is still losing sleep. She said: "But I was lazy. All Saturday and all Sunday and now, today, I've had loads of energy, I've cleaned windows, I've done all sorts. God knows what's going on with me.
"My mental health is suffering a bit, I can't sleep. I can't switch my mind off at all. Thank you so much for all your messages, you have let me know that I'm not alone in feeling like this. So that's it, I think, for today."
She captioned the post: "A bit of a somber one today. Have been feeling ever so flat and not myself over the weekend. It really is a journey of ups and downs and you do just have to take each day as it comes."
Radiotherapy recovery
During a recent appearance on The Six O'Clock Show, Beverley spoke of her condition as she gave an update on how she is doing after completing her radiotherapy. She said: "Nausea, really tired and just wiped out a little bit. And I'm quite badly burnt. But I'm coping really well, actually."
"I got through it amazingly well. I didn't have any time off work. I didn't miss a day. So I was really sort of proud of myself for that. I don't know the actual prognosis yet, I see my oncologist again in two weeks time. So I'll know more then, but I'm doing well."
Beverley then revealed people had told her she shouldn't work, but she insisted that if she didn't, she would "just sit and feel sorry" for herself. She said: "Believe me, I've done that as well, as we all do. But I need my mind to be occupied," she said. "If I've got lines to learn, it really helps. And believe me, I've had loads to learn, so it's been good."
