HOLLYOAKS star Ali Bastian had to break the news to her young daughters after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The actress, 42, first noticed the lump after she felt pain after breastfeeding Isabella, who is 19 months old.
Ali is currently having weekly chemotherapy treatments which she will have for five months.
After chemotherapy, she will have a mastectomy and radiotherapy treatment.
But it was telling her children Isabella and Isla, four, that was one of the toughest moments since being diagnosed with cancer.
In an interview with OK! magazine she said that working out how to explain what was happening to the girls was “tricky”.
“I think that no matter how clever you think you’re being as a parent, kids still know more than you think,” she said.
“She knows that Mummy had a pain in her boob, she was with me when I went to the emergency doctor.
“We told her that I’m going to take some strong medicine that is making it better and that Mummy’s going to have a crazy haircut for a bit, and it will make me tired sometimes.”
She first discovered the lump after her breast felt sore after she had fed Isabella.
The actress, who lives in Cork, Ireland, went straight to the emergency doctor believing it was mastitis.
She was given a course of antibiotics but they didn’t shift the pain or lump, so she went to a breast clinic.
A few days after her scans, she was given the heartbreaking diagnosis that she had stage 2 breast cancer.
Her husband David O’Mahony told the publication that he could see how scared his wife was.
Tests revealed that Ali’s cancer is hormone-driven and doctors are now looking into whether it’s genetic as her aunt and grandmother also had breast cancer.
She said that dealing with the psychological impact of having cancer was a huge challenge.
Ali, who played Becca Dean on the Channel 4 soap also appeared on the BBC One series Doctors and took part in the seventh series of Strictly Come Dancing.
She moved from London to rural Ireland with her husband and two daughters, Isla and Isabella earlier this year.
Ali revealed in an Instagram post she suffered “major burn out” due to her life in London and challenges following her second pregnancy being some of the reasons the family left the capital.
Ali received the devastating cancer news in June.
BREAST cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK.
The majority of women who get it are over 50, but younger women and, in rare cases, men can also get breast cancer.
If it’s treated early enough, breast cancer can be prevented from spreading to other parts of the body.
Breast cancer can have a number of symptoms, but the first noticeable symptom is usually a lump or area of thickened breast tissue.
Most breast lumps aren’t cancerous, but it’s always best to have them checked by your doctor. You should also speak to your GP if you notice any of the following:
Source: NHS
She is now receiving care from the Orchid Centre at Cork University Hospital.
Ali admitted she still sometimes feels “frightened” about the future but praised all the medical staff she’s met during the process.
She added the advice the nurses have given her has been help, along with keeping a journal of her experiences.
Ali said: “I feel like they’re treating me like one of their own.
“It’s like I’ve been scooped up. I’ve been blown away by the care and kindness – every kind word and cup of tea means a lot.
“We love it here.”
Ali said her hair has started to fall out after beginning chemotherapy but she is just trimming it for now, with the help of David and hasn’t yet shaved it all off.
She added she did not like to refer to herself as being in a “battle” with cancer instead saying it is a process she needs to “adapt to”.
Ali praised her former Hollyoaks co-stars including Sarah Jayne Dunn, Carley Stenson and Jodi Albert, who also lives in Ireland, for rallying around and offering support.
She remains positive about the future and said she was looking forward to a return to acting once she is “out of the other side”.
