Coronation Street star Victoria Ekanoye has revealed how her baby son inspires her as she considers her next treatment for breast cancer.
The actress, who portrayed Angie Appleton in the ITV soap, appeared on Wednesday’s episode of Loose Women where she spoke about undergoing a double mastectomy to reduce her risk as much as possible.
Victoria had the surgery on December 17, and is now in a limbo of sorts as she prepares to discuss with her oncologist which treatment will best suit her needs.
Speaking to Christine Lampard, Coleen Nolan, Janet Street-Porter and Gloria Hunniford, Victoria admitted that the uncertainty has been extremely difficult.
‘The waiting has really been the hardest bit,’ she said. ‘Especially for my family, they’re constantly worrying about me.’
Victoria, who welcomed her first child with partner Jonny Lomas last year, now has a ‘decision’ to make about whether to go ahead with chemotherapy, as the effects can be ‘quite debilitating’ and even permanent.
Baby Theo, who was just six months when Victoria was first diagnosed with the devastating disease, is now a year old and sat happily on his mum’s lap later in her appearance on the show.
The mum-of-one admitted Theo has been ‘the light at the end of the tunnel’ throughout all the difficulties of the past two years, including her illness and the pandemic.
She and husband Jonny were able to keep going for their ‘amazing, incredible miracle’, who she described as her ‘driving force for everything’.
‘When we get that time together [as a family] it’s so precious. Everything we’re doing is for him. We will do absolutely everything.
‘Even if chemotherapy ends up being the best choice, so be it.’
The alternative is hormone therapy Tamoxifen, a tablet that Victoria would take every day for five years and which, doctors suggest, could be almost as effective as chemo.
It can cause side effects ‘similar to menopause’, Victoria said, but is ‘more tolerable than chemotherapy and it won’t have that forever effect’.
On a previous appearance on Loose Women, Victoria said that while a double mastectomy is invasive surgery with a long recovery period, if she can eliminate the risk as much as possible, ‘that’s what I’m going to do’.
‘I don’t want to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life, I have a baby boy,’ she added.
‘I can’t even begin to think about not being there for them.’
Loose Women airs at 12.30pm on Weekdays on ITV and ITV Hub.
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