Coronation Street icon Tracy Shaw broke down in tears as she faced the latest stage in her treatment for breast cancer and admitted she doesn’t want to “fight” her illness at this point
Coronation Street icon Tracy Shaw has spoken about the agonising pain as she receives treatment for breast cancer.
The actress, 53, who played Maxine Peacock on the ITV soap from 1995 until 2003, announced earlier this year that she had been diagnosed with the disease and has been undergoing chemotherapy over the last several months.
On Thursday, Tracy took to Instagram where she explained that she was preparing to go for her Phesgo – a prescription combination medication used for her type of cancer – and emotionally admitted that she doesn’t want to think of herself as “fighting” her illness now.
She said: “Just a little honest update. I’m going in for my Phesgo today, and I just cried. It was supposed to be yesterday, but… I didn’t know. Anyway, I just cried because… That was the reality. The reality is that on we go.
“And my honest truth is… yesterday, I didn’t want to have the injection and feel all the side effects again so close to surgery. But it’s the reality of what we do. So, and I have this for… and this is everyone who has this—the Phesgo, which is a targeted drug to HER2 cancer.
“I don’t like saying the word ‘fight’ because I don’t believe I’m fighting it, because I believe I’m just being. But there are… there are days like yesterday where I wanted a break from hospital, I want a break from being in the chemo ward.
“I read a lot of your messages—and you, you all get to these points as well. You know, sometimes like me, halfway through the chemo cycle, it’s so blinkin’ painful and brutal, what we go through.”
The soap star then told fans she had a moment of “onwards and upwards” but has stayed off the painkillers throughout her treatment, and recently enjoyed some time playing football but then had to find time to rest amid the pain.
She added: “The Saturday night after my surgery, you know, I was bouncing about, playing football with my son’s girlfriend, and I realized that in order for me to rest and heal, it’s a slow process that I need to be able to gauge where I’m at pain-wise.
“And underneath the lymph nodes… right there… that’s where it’s the sorest at the moment. So, I just didn’t want any more pain inflicting, and I certainly don’t want… I have no taste and things like that.
“I’m having the odd shingle pop up after surgery. You know, it’s nothing drastic, but I know when this goes in, I’ve got a week of—and I shouldn’t say this, —a week of being flatlined a bit, because I can do this.”
Tracy, who has also appeared in Casualty and toured regularly in theatre during her career, then explained that she is just weeks away from getting the results from her latest treatment even though she is suffering a “mental block” on occasion.
“I know I can do it. It’s just that mental block sometimes that you hit halfway through where you’re just like, ‘Oh, no more, please give me a break!’ But I’m going in. And it will be done.
“And I will continue having them every three weeks for as long as that takes—possibly a year. And in three weeks’ time, I will have the results and I’ll know what other type of chemo I’m going to have to face again. Fact.
“So, I feel like I hit a halfway mark of… and it’s natural. And I have to be honest about that, it’s natural, okay? I can’t keep giving you pictures that I’m whoop-de-doop-doops. It’s… it’s one heck of a journey. It’s one heck of a journey. But I will keep smiling in the face of cancer.”
If you have been affected by this story, advice and support can be found at Breast Cancer Support.
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