IRISH TIMES JOURNALIST and gay rights campaigner Una Mullally spoke out about her cancer battle on RTÉ’s Saturday Night with Miriam last night.
Mullally, who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, spoke to Miriam O’Callaghan about the illness and how she came to be diagnosed.
She revealed that she had had “weird stomach problems” for a year and a half, when her sister advised her to seek a colonoscopy. Afterwards, doctors informed her that they had found a large tumour and she was diagnosed with cancer.
Mullally likened the experience of finding out that she had cancer to an “out of body experience”.
I was in shock for a few days. You just feel like you’re looking at something unfold that isn’t you, that’s a character in a play.
The 32-year-old described the illness as “a complete anomaly” and noted that the cancer she has been diagnosed with mostly affects men over the age of 60.
However, she also noted that she was “incredibly lucky” as her cancer is Stage 3 and therefore treatable.
A lot of people around the country are in far worse situations than I am with their diagnoses.
On how she was dealing with the diagnosis, Mullally acknowledged that she had a “good auld dose of denial” and spoke frankly about dealing with realities of a cancer diagnosis.
It’s a process. You’re catapulted into this situation and you’re on the conveyer belt, and other people are doing things to you and your body. And everything is out of your control. And you kind of just have to put your arms up and go, ‘I trust the doctors, I trust this treatment,’ and just let go and try get along with your life in the meantime as best you can.
She also described working on the Yes campaign as the “most amazing distraction and diversion” following the cancer diagnosis and called May 23rd “the most important and best day of my life”.
Mullally has just finished her first phase of radiation and chemotherapy, and will undergo surgery in July before embarking on further treatment.
However, she told O’Callaghan that she is hopeful about her prognosis.
It’s a tricky little bastard of a disease, really. But, you know, hopefully I’ll get out the other side of it.
On Twitter, Mullally was commended by viewers for her candour and strength.
Oh, and after her appearance, Mullally didn’t go home and rest.
No, no, she went and DJ’d at a Dublin Pride event.
Hero.
As always, all of us here at TheJournal.ie, wish Una a speedy recovery.
- Written by Amy O’Connor and originally published on DailyEdge.ie.
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