'It was very hard' Cathy Kelly's hair loss from treatment 'broke her mum's heart'

Author Cathy Kelly has kept a brave face and a positive attitude since her cancer diagnosis and the author is determined that her loved ones won’t suffer as they support her during her treatment.

Speaking to the RTÉ Guide, the 57-year-old said she’s always been aware of her own mortality and didn’t ‘go to pieces’ when she was diagnosed last summer, but her priority is that her family is not frightened as they watch on helplessly.

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‘I will die someday, of course, but I just don’t want it to happen right now because there are things I need to do in order to take care of my boys and my family,’ she explained, logically. ‘I’m not frightened of dying in the slightest. I just want to make sure that the people I love are safe and happy before that happens.’

It’s not just her sons, twins Dylan and Murray, who she worries about. Her mum is also at the forefront of her thoughts. Cathy says she started to wear a wig as her hair started to fall out, just to try and be more normal.

‘I told the boys that the prognosis was good, and then I tried to make it fun with the haircutting,’ she said. ‘First, I gave myself a sleek bob, then a few insane Grace and Perry style looks before ending up with a pixie cut. And eventually, I just buzz cut it. But it was very hard for my mum when my hair fell out. It broke her heart to look at me.’

Author Cathy Kelly. Pic: Cathy Kelly / Instagram

Cathy, who has just released her latest book Sisterhood, completely understands where her mum is coming from though, and she feels sorry that she is going through her own distress as her daughter goes through rounds of chemo and different surgeries.

‘As a parent, you want to fix this thing, but the only person who can go through it is the person themselves. I’ve never written about someone losing a child in my books and I don’t think I ever could. It’s just too much, right?’ she said.

Pic: Cathy Kelly/Instagram

Cathy also revealed that a second cancer was discovered in the same boob during a mammyplasty procedure in January and she had to undergo surgical treatment for that too. But she’s remaining positive about the whole thing and has made peace with the fact she may end up having to have a mastectomy.

‘If they had to remove my boobs, they can stick in plastic pointy up ones!’ she said, with her typical Cathy Kelly humour. ‘I just want to be alive.’

With such a joie de vivre despite her challenges, it’s hard to believe Cathy has also been battling depression. But it’s something she’s dealt with all her life after having her first depressive episode at just 14. She’s been on antidepressants most of her life.

Cathy was once afraid to admit that she wrestles with her demons, fearing people who don’t know her might accuse her of ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ to promote a book.

It’s a good thing that Cathy has found a way to deal with the tough times as she admits that she has had more than her fair share of bad luck during her cancer treatment.

Her port lines got infected, which is a rare occurrence normally. Her PICC line caused a clot- another irregularity. She also picked up pneumonia during a hospital stay.

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