Coleen Nolan’s rarely-seen older brother Brian has given fans a health update – four months after revealing his cancer diagnosis.
70-year-old Brian was diagnosed with prostate cancer shortly after their sister, Linda Nolan, died after a 20-year battle with breast cancer. Their sister Bernie also died from breast cancer back in 2013.
Brian’s heartbreaking diagnosis was revealed earlier this year on Loose Women, where he revealed it was “treatable” and “curable”. And today (July 15), he returned with a very positive update.
Brian Nolan reveals he is cancer-free
Speaking to Coleen and her Loose Women panellists, Brian revealed he had an operation, RALP (Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopic Prostatectomy).
He said: “My cancer was caged within the prostate gland and they found I had a clean bill of health. So they offered me a radical operation which drew the whole cancer out with the prostate, all at once.”
I got the call from my surgeon to say my cancer was completely gone.
Brian was only in the hospital for 18 hours for the surgery, but it was last Tuesday he heard about the results.
He explained: “I got the call from my surgeon to say my cancer was completely gone and my bloods are back to normal.”
While Coleen and everyone celebrated the news, Brian admitted he knows he is “very lucky” and wants to advocate for more screening procedures for prostate cancer.
Brian Nolan’s cancer recovery
Speaking about Brian’s recovery, Coleen admitted she didn’t realise how quick he would bounce back.
She said: “I was quite astounded by how quick your recovery actually was.”
Brian agreed: “I agree. I don’t want to preach to anybody or upset them but I was very lucky my cancer was encased.”
Brian went on to emphasise just how important it is to get checked, because the key is finding it early enough to be treatable.
As for what his initial symptoms were, Brian admitted he went to see his doctor because of an issue with his bladder.
Brian said: “My GP said: ‘Well it could be that but let’s go through the protocol’. He went through an inspection and he found something he didn’t like and sent me for an MRI. He then didn’t like my MRI scan and so I had the biopsy. That was the one that found the cancer.”
Brian admitted that the whole process of his diagnosis took 6-7 weeks. But that’s when Coleen asked him if he had ignored it for a while. He said he had because he didn’t think it was going to be something serious.
Read more: Inside Coleen Nolan’s ‘emotional rollercoaster’ year – from ‘overwhelming’ grief to love split
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