Beverley Callard has said she’s feeling ‘positive and strong’ after being diagnosed with breast cancer as she shared a health update to fans.
The Coronation Street legend, 68, revealed she is battling the disease during a chat show appearance in Ireland to promote her new role on soap opera Fair City.
Beverley had reassured fans the cancer was caught early, but would need to return to the UK for radiotherapy and surgery.
In a fresh update on Monday, the actress told fans she is now back home in Norfolk after taking the ferry with her husband Jon McEwan and their dogs.
Speaking on camera, Beverley said: ‘I really want to say thank you so much to everyone for your wonderful messages. Everybody has been truly fantastic.
‘And I also want to say I’m feeling really positive and I’m very strong. I begin hospital stuff and everything now I’m home.
Beverley Callard has said she’s feeling ‘positive and strong’ after being diagnosed with breast cancer as she shared a health update to fans
The Coronation Street legend, 68, revealed she is battling the disease during a chat show appearance in Ireland to promote her new role on soap opera Fair City (pictured on Friday)
Announcing her diagnosis last Friday on The Late Late Show to host Patrick Kielty, Beverley revealed she received the news just 20 minutes before filming her first scenes in her new role
‘Everything begins this week. On Wednesday, they’re testing lymph nodes and lymph glands and all of that and I will keep everybody updated.
‘I’m so appreciative of all the love that’s coming, thank you.’
Announcing her diagnosis last Friday on The Late Late Show to host Patrick Kielty, Beverley revealed she received the news just 20 minutes before filming her first scenes in her new role.
She explained: ‘I’d had some tests just before I left the UK and literally 15 to 20 minutes before [her first scene] 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, you know, I’ve just taken a new job I’m away for a month”.’
Beverley added: ‘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, you know, thousands of other women as well.’
The soap star has signed up to play Lily, the long-lost mother to already established Fair City character Gwen (Emily Lamey) on the RTÉ show.
Previously released promotional pictures show Beverley getting into character, with the star wearing a black leather jacket in one.
Beverley played the iconic Liz McDonald on and off in the ITV soap from 1989 until 2020 (pictured in 2010)
The soap star has signed up to play Lily, the long-lost mother to already established Fair City character Gwen (Emily Lamey) on the RTÉ show
Last month Beverley was forced to hit back at claims she was on weight-loss jabs after showing off her slim frame
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Beverley Callard, 68, reveals she has been diagnosed with breast cancer
Another shows the actress dressed in a cream ruffled jacket and denim jumpsuit as she poses next to a ‘Welcome to Carrigstown’ sign.
Last month Beverley was forced to hit back at claims she was on weight-loss jabs after showing off her slim frame.
In a video to fans addressing her weight loss, she said she has been ‘working her a**e off’ her whole life and has been heavily involved in fitness.
Beverley confirmed that her incredible physique was not because of ‘any weight loss jabs’ but was just her hard work.
She went on to say that she ‘would not knock anybody’ for using the jabs and urged people ‘to do what they need to do’.
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and affects more than two MILLION women a year
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be treated?
What is breast cancer?
It comes from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.
When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding tissue it is called ‘invasive’. Some people are diagnosed with ‘carcinoma in situ’, where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.
Most cases develop in those over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men, though this is rare.
Staging indicates how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the earliest stage and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body.
The cancerous cells are graded from low, which means a slow growth, to high, which is fast-growing. High-grade cancers are more likely to come back after they have first been treated.
What causes breast cancer?
A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply ‘out of control’.
Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance, such as genetics.
What are the symptoms of breast cancer?
The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most are not cancerous and are fluid-filled cysts, which are benign.
The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.
How is breast cancer diagnosed?
- Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may do tests such as a mammogram, a special X-ray of the breast tissue which can indicate the possibility of tumours.
- Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under a microscope to look for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.
If you are confirmed to have breast cancer, further tests may be needed to assess if it has spread. For example, blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest X-ray.
How is breast cancer treated?
Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a combination of two or more of these treatments are used.
- Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumour.
- Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focused on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops them from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery.
- Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying.
- Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the ‘female’ hormone oestrogen, which can stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the level of these hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer.
How successful is treatment?
The outlook is best in those who are diagnosed when the cancer is still small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then give a good chance of cure.
The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 71 means more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.
For more information visit breastcancernow.org or call its free helpline on 0808 800 6000
