Coronation Street‘s Tracy Shaw has shared how posting about her cancer diagnosis and treatment online has affected her, and has helped others in similar situations.
The soap star, who played Maxine Peacock in the ITV show, shared her breast cancer diagnosis in April this year. In an Instagram post, the actor said that she would be undergoing chemotherapy for five months.
Since then, she has been sharing her journey on her Instagram page, opening up about what her treatment entails as well as the physical and mental impact cancer has had on both herself and those around her.
Speaking on Lorraine, Tracy opened up about how sharing her cancer journey with her followers had helped her connect with others affected by the disease.
“It isn’t an easy path and I’m only sharing it because there are millions of ladies and gentlemen who are going through the same thing and it’s just not a very nice piece of the disease chemo really,” she began.
When asked by Lorraine Kelly about telling her loved ones about her cancer diagnosis, Tracy continued: “The whole family and all the people who are following and messaging at the moment, those mothers with sons, younger sons, with sons my age, the family members are messaging, everyone is affected.
“Sometimes just by me sharing about what the effects are, they understand how that person might be feeling, because you don’t know.”
She went on: “The survivors are just amazing, you know, the ones who are reaching out and really giving me advice and tips, and unless you’ve been there, you don’t really know just how awful it really feels because there’s nothing really normal about your life anymore when you go through chemo.”
Lorraine said the affection for Tracy has been “remarkable”, with people remembering her from her time on Corrie but also from her “incredibly brave and honest” posts that have touched so many.
The host said Tracy “will have saved lives” by sharing her story, highlighting the symptoms and effects of cancer.
Tracy ended the interview by saying she had spoken to “a couple of ladies” who had been diagnosed with cancer after seeing her posts online.
“It is quite remarkable that when we speak out, we do help others,” she said.
