Vicky Phelan: 'If I go quiet, you will know that I am probably just about coping'

She says she hopes to update her supporters throughout her treatment

Vicky Phelan has had her first round of radiotherapy

Campaigner Vicky Phelan says she has completed her first day of radiotherapy treatment, which she hopes will ease the pain in her back.

“On my way home now after finishing round one of a 10-session course of radiation to relieve pain in my spine,” she writes on Instagram, sharing a picture of the bed where she is undergoing treatment for her cancer.

She says she hopes to update her supporters throughout the journey but admits she may fall silent on social media if she experiences difficult side effects.

“I can't promise to keep you all posted on social media over the coming two weeks on how I'm doing. If I go quiet, you will know that I am probably just about coping with side effects from treatment. If I feel up to it, I will post sporadically to keep you all updated.” 

She says the support she has been receiving means so much to her.

Thanks again to ALL of you for all the lovely messages of support that you are sending in to me. They really mean a lot.

Over the weekend, Vicky wrote on Twitter that she had been touched by two “beautiful pieces that were written” in the media: an open letter from a supporter and a poem penned in her honour.

“I am always taken aback by the depth of feeling that ppl express for me BUT I am so very grateful,” she write as she thanked letter-writer Róisín Glynn Steed while she said the poem by Denise Blake is “a truly beautiful piece and I will cherish it forever, especially over the next three weeks as I face into the unknown of new treatment.” 

She added: “Today has shown me just how much love there is out there for me and I take NONE of it for granted.”