‘I was very ill’ – hero cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan suffers serious health setback
CERVICAL cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan has announced she has to step back from her advocacy work after she suffered a serious setback to her health.
Last week it was announced that the mother-of-two, who is from Mooncoin, will be the Grand Marshal in Kilkenny’s St Patrick’s Day parade next month.
Addressing her followers on social media today, Ms Phelan apologised for being so quiet in recent weeks but revealed she has been in hospital due to a viral infection as she feared her cancer may have spread.
She tweeted: “Apologies to all my followers on Twitter for my absence over the past couple of weeks. I was very ill. I spent almost a week in hospital, my first as an inpatient since I got cancer. It was scary but I am OK again and a CT scan has revealed that my cancer has NOT spread.”
She later added: “There is no explanation for what made me so ill so they have put it down to a viral infection. My time in hospital has taught me some valuable lessons, mainly that I need to pull back from campaigning so heavily and focus on my health and my two young children.”
The brave 44-year-old rose to national prominence after she played a pivotal role in lifting the lid on how hundreds of smear tests had been misdiagnosed as part of the national CervicalCheck programme last year.
Ms Phelan added that she now needs to prioritise her health and her family, saying: “I will still use my voice to campaign and to contribute to the conversation around women’s health but I will be doing it on my terms. I don’t know what lies ahead so I need to prioritise my health and my family above all else. Thank you.”
