Anne Nolan suffers from anxiety because she’s so worried “about dying” after battling cancer and losing two of her sisters to the disease.
Anne Nolan battles anxiety because she’s so worried about dying
The Nolans star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000 and battled it again almost exactly 20 years later but in 2024 she was told she was “clear” of the illness – which claimed the lives of her sister Bernie in 2013 and Linda in January – but Anne, 74, is still plagued by worries about the disease coming back.
Anne admitted her cancer battle in the era of COVID-19 left her riddled with worries told OK! magazine: “It was really awful.
“I ended up having anxiety about dying. I’ve had to have tablets from the doctor for anxiety because of having cancer during COVID. I wasn’t allowed to be with my family. I was in hospital for 11 days …
“I still have anxiety but it’s not as bad. I have anxieties about dying. It is about the cancer coming back as well … I don’t want to die, I love being alive. I love being here.”
She added that losing her sisters to cancer and surviving her own ordeal has given her a different prospective on life.
Anne explained: “When you’ve had a life-threatening disease and you’ve lost two sisters then it brings it all to the forefront.
“It makes you value life. You grab everything with both hands. Whenever I’m asked to do something I say yes straight away. When you come through it and you’re at the other end and you think, well I didn’t die and I’m alive and I’m gonna live every day.”
She went on to reveal she now wants to tick some plans off her bucket list including a trip to Italy to visit the Vatican and a holiday in Nashville, Tennessee.
Anne also wants to learn to swim, pick up a new language and learn to play an instrument.
She previously opened up about her brush with cancer and admitted she feels “lucky” to have pulled through.
During an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine, Anne said: “I am so lucky. I had my first cancer in 2000, I had my chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and an operation. And after six months of chemo, I was fine. And then 20 years later, almost to the day, it came back again in a different breast.
“Two separate cancers. And again, I had the chemo and the radiotherapy and the operation and I’m happy to say that I’m clear. I’ve got another year before I’m actually discharged but I’m clear of cancer at the moment, thank goodness. So I count myself really, really lucky. “
