Celebrity Big Brother’s Trisha Goddard shares health update amid incurable cancer battle

Trisha Goddard shared a health update on Instagram on Sunday amid her incurable cancer battle. 

The Celebrity Big Brother star, 67, who has secondary breast cancer – also known as metastatic or stage 4 breast cancer – said she is experiencing Raynaud’s syndrome, a condition that causes reduced blood flow to the fingers and toes.

The condition can be a side effect of some cancer treatments, particularly chemotherapy, and can change the colour of the skin, causing burning or numbness. 

Trisha posted a photo of her bright white fingers, explaining that her Raynaud’s has worsened since being on chemo. 

She captioned the post: ‘Sheesh… Anybody else dealing with pesky Raynaud’s?

‘If you do, here’s what happens when you forget to wear gloves when buying frozen food, and then go about putting it in your freezer, duh!

Trisha Goddard, 67, took to her Instagram on Sunday to share that she is experiencing Raynaud’s syndrome, a condition that causes reduced blood flow to the fingers and toes

The Celebrity Big Brother star, who has secondary breast cancer – also known as metastatic or stage 4 breast cancer – explained that her Raynaud’s has worsened since being on chemo

‘Had it mildly for years, but over a year of infusions and chemo every three weeks has ramped up my Raynaud’s quite a bit. Ouch! 

‘Here’s herself waiting for the painful fingers to go bright red, then blue, then icily grey/white before they eventually go back to normal.’ 

Trisha added that she’s learnt to adjust her lifestyle around the condition – from wearing gloves to using a napkin to hold a cold glass. 

She continued: ‘Over the years, I’ve learned to adapt; for instance, I wear gloves while driving, so my car’s air conditioning doesn’t trigger Raynaud’s in my fingers.

‘When I have a cold drink, I use a napkin to hold the glass and so on.

‘BUT every so often I forget; the burning sensation starts and my fingers go painfully numb while they turn the colours of the Union Jack.’ 

She then provided further information about the condition to her followers, adding: ‘Bit of info below folks, Chemotherapy can induce or exacerbate Raynaud’s phenomenon, a condition where blood vessels in the fingers and toes temporarily narrow in response to cold or stress, leading to reduced blood flow.

‘This condition can manifest as skin colour changes (white, blue, red), numbness, and pain in the affected areas.

However, she added that she’s learnt to adjust her lifestyle around the condition – from wearing gloves to using a napkin to hold a cold glass (pictured in April)

Raynaud’s syndrome causes miniature spasms in the blood vessels, cutting off the blood supply to the fingers and toes

‘While often temporary and resolving after chemotherapy, it’s important to manage and be aware of this side effect.’ 

It comes after Trisha opened up about living with stage four cancer in the famous Celebrity Big Brother house last month. 

Making sure she was fit and well ahead of entering the house, she told MailOnline: ‘I went to the infusion centre on April 1. I call it my spa room.

‘I had a soupcon of chemo and targeted hormone therapy, one little bag after the other. I have a port catheter [in her chest] and I get plugged in.

‘Then the next day I flew over to the UK. I had to wear compression garments – tights and a sleeve on my arm – and I took disinfectant wipes for the seats, tables, armrest and loo.

‘My oncologist is brilliant, a rock star, and so sweet. He said, ‘I’m going to help you do this because your message [of hope] is so great.’ 

She had an ultrasound scan when she got to England to check she had not developed a deep vein thrombosis – she hadn’t – and a medical. 

It comes after Trisha opened up about living with stage four cancer in the famous Celebrity Big Brother house last month (pictured with housemate Chesney Hawkes last month)

Making sure she was fit and well ahead of entering the house, she told MailOnline: ‘I went to the infusion centre on April 1. I call it my spa room’ (pictured last month)

Trisha had signed up for Celebrity Big Brother to prove to patients they should ‘not be scared of living’ after being diagnosed with stage four cancer.

After going head-to-head with Patsy Palmer and Jack P Shepherd in the public vote, Trisha received the fewest number of votes to be saved and was the second star to leave.

As Trisha headed out of the house, the presenter admitted she was ‘a bit sad’ to be leaving the show.

Speaking to hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best, Trisha brushed off the housemates’ reasons for nominating her, especially Chesney Hawkes’ that conversations with her felt like being on her talk show.

She said: ‘That’s actually a great compliment… No, because we all said we were all scratching around in the dirt to find something negative to stay around each other.’

The star also reflected on her decision to sign up for the show, admitting it was a welcome break for her from cancer treatment.

She added: ‘Really, it meant a lot, it meant a lot, it was respite it was a holiday from having to think about cancer, because with the BB team and with my team in the Stes so I didn’t have to think of the next scan, and I could be like a child again.

‘Yes, I did talk about cancer because I had to, and it is part of my life, as it is for 3.4 million Brits. It was just a break from having to think about it.

‘Heavy subjects came up now and again, but it was just a break!’

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and affects more than two MILLION women a year

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be treated?

What is breast cancer?

It comes from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.

When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding tissue it is called ‘invasive’. Some people are diagnosed with ‘carcinoma in situ’, where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.

Most cases develop in those over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men, though this is rare.

Staging indicates how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the earliest stage and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body.

The cancerous cells are graded from low, which means a slow growth, to high, which is fast-growing. High-grade cancers are more likely to come back after they have first been treated.

What causes breast cancer?

A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply ‘out of control’.

Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance, such as genetics.

What are the symptoms of breast cancer?

The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign. 

The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.

How is breast cancer diagnosed?

• Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may do tests such as a mammography, a special x-ray of the breast tissue which can indicate the possibility of tumours.
• Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under a microscope to look for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.

If you are confirmed to have breast cancer, further tests may be needed to assess if it has spread. For example, blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest X-ray.

How is breast cancer treated?

Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a combination of two or more of these treatments are used.

• Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumour.
• Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focused on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops them from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery.
• Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying.
• Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the ‘female’ hormone oestrogen, which can stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the level of these hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer.

How successful is treatment?

The outlook is best in those who are diagnosed when the cancer is still small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then give a good chance of cure.

The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 71 means more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.

For more information visit breastcancernow.org or call its free helpline on 0808 800 6000