In her no-holds-barred column, Irish singer, actress and TV star Linda Nolan speaks candidly about living with cancer, a disease that has also struck sisters Anne and Coleen and took the life of their sister Bernie. This week Linda is finally on the mend – and has found a controversial food combo to tempt her to eat again
Chicken curry with pineapple, no mushrooms. I’d never have imagined that would be my first bite of 2025 – but there it is. Denise and Tom were ordering a Chinese on Sunday and suddenly that’s what I fancied.
Pineapple in a curry. That was the foil container to finally tempt me out of my fast. My very own Chinese New Year. I hadn’t eaten for 11 days – what a Christmas! A complete wipe out. Everyone’s been so worried. The girls have been bringing me energy drinks and that’s all I’ve been able to get down.
The doctors say it’s been a bad case of flu. I became so weak I’d walk a few steps and struggle to catch my breath. My legs were even more wobbly than usual and of course although I try not to, I immediately thought of how Bernie was at the end. You think, Oh my God, is this it?
On New Year’s Eve Denise was so worried she got me checked out at the hospital and they gave me steroids on top of antibiotics. They sent me back home to rest and she was then reassured enough to go to Coleen’s New Year’s party as my friend Sue and her husband Graham came round to stay. I was asleep by 10.10pm – but that was pretty good going!
I missed out on pizzas and babies – our new great nephews, Coleen’s son Jake’s boy and our brother Tommy’s new grandson. But for the first time in my life I wasn’t in the mood for cuddles.
It was only on Monday I felt well enough to venture out. It feels like a whole new world out there. There’s nothing like the sensation of starting to feel better after an illness. You’ve forgotten what it feels like to feel normal (well, I say normal…).
We went round to our brother Brian’s for his wife Annie’s cakes and chat afternoon which has now become a monthly staple for us all. She bakes scones, and a cake – coffee and walnut this time. I told her no one likes a show off. I ate a whole half a scone. Jam and cream too.
It was so good to get out and chat – or listen, rather, which I know sounds unlikely but I’m suffering from the worst dry mouth so gossiping’s restricted. I think that’s a chemo side-effect rather than the flu.
Despite all the rubbish, I feel so grateful to be getting well again. I’ve never been keen on resolutions, but here’s one: it’ll take more than flu to finish me off. And pineapple in a curry? Here’s a second: I might try that again.
