Coronation Street’s Tracy Shaw reveals ‘remarkable’ impact of going public with cancer diagnosis

Coronation Street’s Tracy Shaw has shared the ‘remarkable’ impact of speaking about her breast cancer diagnosis, revealing she’s had messages from people who have been diagnosed following her posts.

The actress, who played Maxine Peacock on the ITV soap between 1995 to 2003, revealed her diagnosis earlier this year and since then she’s kept followers updated with honest and personal posts about what she’s going through.

Earlier this week, she appeared on Lorraine to discuss her battle. ‘It isn’t an easy path,’ she said to the popular ITV chat show host. ‘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.’

Tracy shared a post earlier in the week revealing the side effects of chemotherapy. ‘Day 10 after chemo, another trip to A&E, most of the day asleep,’ she said on Instagram, fighting tears.

‘I’ve got cream for thrush. All in my nose, all in my mouth, my ears, my head. I have been constantly on the toilet. There’s no strength left.

‘In my head I thought there may be a break after a week after chemo. So this is the effects that the chemo has had on the body. So, basically the chemo kills everything including the lining of my stomach.

‘And there is no strength…it just feels like you’re as vulnerable as a baby. It’s very difficult to be around people and to be around noises. You’re so sensitive.

‘‘Still can’t taste anything or eat anything. It just feels really tough today. It just feels really difficult to dig deep without the help of the ladies that I’m in contact with on Instagram.’

Discussing the impact a diagnosis such as breast cancer can have not only on yourself but on your loved ones, Tracy told Lorraine that ‘everyone is affected.’

‘The whole family and all the people who are following and messaging at the moment – those mothers with sons, younger sons or with sons my age, the family members are messaging.

‘Sometimes just by me sharing about what the effects are, they understand how that person might be feeling, because you don’t know.’

Lorraine was quick to heap praise on Tracy for showing the ‘reality’ of cancer via her ‘honest posts’ and told her that she’ll have ‘saved lives’ by doing what she’s doing.

Tracy revealed that she knows of a couple of ladies who have since been diagnosed following her social media posts. ‘It’s quite remarkable that when we do speak out, we do help others,’ she concluded.