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Antiques Roadshow expert Theo Burrell has shared a health update after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
The 36-year-old revealed last week that she was diagnosed with an ‘incurable aggressive grade 4 brain tumour’ last year following the birth of her son.
The ceramics expert, who has since undergone ‘surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy to keep the cancer under control,’ was given just two years to live by medics, and told that her ‘tumour will return and kill me’.
She spoke of her heartache after receiving the diagnosis when her son was just a year old, saying it was ‘devastating’.
Theo has now opened up about her diagnosis in a candid health update, and shared that she asked not to be told her prognosis when she was diagnosed, but ‘accidentally’ discovered it.
She said: ‘I said right from the outset I did not want a prognosis or a life expectancy because I felt that I would focus on whatever number I was given and that I might cater how I was living my life to that number, and if I died before that number I was going to feel upset that I hadn’t made it to where I was supposed to.
‘If I died long after that number I would have felt frustrated that I had lived my life according to an arbitrary number and if I died exactly as they said then what difference does it make.
‘So I didn’t look at life expectancy for a long time after I was diagnosed and then I accidentally came across it which was really hard to see how short it was.’
Theo also spoke about how difficult it is facing the diagnosis while being mum to a young son.
She continued to The Sun: ‘When I first got out of hospital it was hard. I would be sitting in his room reading a bedtime story thinking, “how many more bedtime stories do I have left?”
‘That still makes me feel very emotional and upset but I have lost worry because I have actually had loads of bedtime stories and I’m hopeful I have got loads more left.’
She added that she feels ‘happy’ her husband and son ‘will go on together, even if I am not here’, saying it was ‘really nice’ that neither will be on their own.
Her comments come after an appearance on Steph’s Packed Lunch, in which she reflected on the ‘tough year’.
Theo said: ‘I’ve lost my hair, I’m no longer allowed to drive, I haven’t been able to work.
‘In advance of that, I’ve had months worth of really quite painful symptoms which took all that time to diagnosis, so it’s been tough.
‘I actually have quite a lucky experience in some ways, I’ve come out of surgery well, I’m responding fairly well to the treatment so far, and right now I’m doing well so fingers crossed that continues.’
She added that she’s now doing something ‘positive’ by raising money with an online auction, called Peace of Mind.
Announcing her diagnosis, Theo told the Daily Mail earlier this month: ‘Overnight everything had changed.
‘Suddenly I’d gone from being a healthy person in the middle of my life with a new baby to having incurable cancer with maybe one or two years left to live.’
Macmillan cancer support
If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with cancer, Macmillan can offer support and information.
You can contact their helpline on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week from 8am to 8pm), use their webchat service, or visit their site for more information.
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