Majella O’Donnell has opened up about the recent cancer scares she has been faced with.
The Tipperary native battled breast cancer in 2013 and revealed that she is now very quick to check any health issues.
She explained that even minor health issues can be worrying because she faced cancer before.
“A couple of weeks back I found a lump in my neck, it was my lymph gland which was swollen. Straight away I thought ‘lymph gland, it’s back.’ It’s scary,” she told the Irish Mirror.
“I went in and had MRIs and a CT and bone scans and blood tests and it was all clear. I just had an infection.”
The 57-year-old said that she can never relax when it comes her health which means she visits the doctor regularly.
“In the last two years twice I’ve gone to the oncologist and said ‘something’s not right’ and she’s checked me and I’m grand.”
“The further I get from my diagnosis, four years now, the more I worry if I feel sick, or if I have a pain in my back for too long straight away I think, ‘the cancer is back.’
“After I had the cancer treatment the first couple of years after it was great, you were over it.
“But when you’re over it for four years you start to worry.
“That’s the only thing. I do feel, and it’s a bit of a shame, that I’m looking over my shoulder.”
Majella added that she is concerned that her daughter Siobhan McLennan may also fall ill.
“I do worry, my daughter is coming up 30 now so I tell her to regularly check the girls. Be aware and don’t ever think ‘it’s not going to happen to me’ because it can happen to any one of us.”
