I knew it was coming because I'd seen threads on breast cancer forums, but I found myself in tears when Sally said 'I've got breast cancer'. I was diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago, at Christmas.
I know Coronation Street consulted Breast Cancer Care on this storyline; I'm glad they did and hope they take note of what they were told as the story progresses.
A number of soaps have had cancer storylines, most often breast cancer stories. Eastenders and Holby City share the prize, I think, for least accurate representation.
Peggy in Eastenders had breast cancer; it was before my diagnosis so like most people who have no experience of it I knew very little about beast cancer. But I remember being moved by the scene where she wept as she faced a mirror and moved her blouse aside to look at her mastectomy site.
But after that the only issue was her insecuruty about her sexual attractiveness following mastectomy. She had no further treatment, and there has never been a storyline with her worrying about recurrence or metastasis; as someone has said, there's no 'all clear' with breast cancer, and it can return at any time, even years after diagnosis and treatment.
Most ridiculously of all, there was no reconstruction story - and breast reconstruction is major surgery, much more so than mastectomy and with a longer recovery time - but Peggy was soon flashing her famous cleavage - check, two breasts, present and correct - behind the bar at the Vic.
I hope Corrie has taken better advice. Sally is young for breast cancer (early 40s), and breast cancer in younger women tends to be more aggressive.