Former Hollyoaks star Ali Bastian has discussed her cancer recovery.
The 43-year old actress played Becca Dean on the Channel 4 soap for 6 years between 2001 and 2007.
After leaving the show, she had a regular role in ITV police drama The Bill, and starred as Becky Clarke in since-axed BBC daytime medical series Doctors.
In September, she revealed her diagnosis with stage two breast cancer, confirming that she discovered a lump whilst breastfeeding her daughter Isabella.
At first, doctors believed the lump to be a blocked duct, though following a round of antibiotics and further tests done at a specialist clinic, cancerous cells were found.
In December, she rang the bell after five months of treatment and, three months later, she revealed that she is cancer free.
‘I wanted to update you all,’ the star wrote on Instagram at the time.
‘I’m on to my final week of radio therapy which should mark the end my active treatment – I hope and pray for good!
‘I had my mastectomy in January which was thankfully a success and has healed really well, it proved that my chemo had worked.
‘As I sit here right now, I’m free from Cancer. I can’t even believe it.’
She has now said that her body is ‘under construction’ and that she’s considering reconstruction surgery following a mastectomy.
‘I couldn’t have a reconstruction at the time because we always knew I’d have to have radiotherapy. At some point there’ll be some kind of something,’ she told Giovanna Fletcher on her Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast
‘Initially I was like 100% it’s happening. But now, I want to have the conversations and talk through what the options are, but I’m not actually married to any of them at the moment.’
She continued: ‘I’ve got a really good prosthetic that makes a big difference. It means in clothes I feel normal. It’s bright pink. It makes me happy.
‘It’s just very different to the lump of silicone that you get handed in the hospital, which is a hell of a moment.
‘This is a lot lighter and easy to wear. I quite like that it doesn’t look like a chicken fillet, like a pretend boob.
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‘It’s something that I could show the kids as well because it’s so visually appealing.
‘It was one of those little bridging things. I just keep saying to myself really “I’m still under construction, I’ve been through a lot, I’m healing at the moment”.’
Ali shares two daughters, five-year old Isla and two-year old Isabella, with husband David O’Mahony. She continued to tell Giovanna that she now plans to focus on other health issues, such as a hernia that she developed during childbirth.
‘I’ve got a big old hernia from my babies as well,’ she said.
‘Because of all of this I haven’t been able to have that done, and actually I’m more keen to get that done than anything else because that is harder to hide.
‘It’s like a tennis ball. I’ve had it for five years, and it needs to go now.’
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