I'm losing my hair again – but watching Strictly's Amy Dowden made me smile

Black tops are out. My hair is starting to shed again.

At the moment it's mainly when I brush. It was always a possibility with the new treatment but I really don’t want to shave it, not again. It never gets any easier becoming Mrs Potato Head. I’ll only do that if I go patchy.

I’ve got enough going on without looking in the mirror and thinking, “My God,” – I already look like that chap from Back To The Future. I’m probably on for a record for the number of times a person can lose their hair.

Meanwhile, my new treatment also requires so many appointments now even Denise is struggling to remember them – so I’ve got no chance. This week we showed up for bloods and afterwards the nurse looked concerned. “I’m not sure if I should have done this today,” she said. We both looked confused.

Sure enough, after my friend and I left I got a call from the hospital – the consultant wanted me back. Apparently I was supposed to be seeing him…

The result is I’ve not been feeling very ‘Linda Nolan’. I’ve been in a nowhere place with the sense I’m going through all this, but for what? The outcome will be the same anyway.

READ MORE: Kate's video lifted me, she's right about family – us Nolans are even closer since my bad news

Thank God for the fabulous sunshine this week. It arrived just in time. I sat up on the edge of my bed on Tuesday and told myself: “No, it’s not going to be the same.”

Sometimes you literally have to tell yourself to, “Get up,” to be able to do it, and so I said that, too.

Maureen drove me, Denise and Tom to one of our favourite restaurants in the countryside. We sat outside and I ate chicken strips (the consultant says my protein is low) with chips (he didn’t tell me to eat them) followed by a waffle and ice cream (nor that – although I’ve decided I’m probably not a waffle person, surprisingly, the amount I waffle on).

The sun and the food lifted my spirits, but perhaps even more so the lovely comments I got. Two women stopped me to ask how I was and tell me I was “inspirational”.

I’m so grateful to them. Of course I don’t feel it, I never do, but we all like to hear nice things.

It’s important to feel inspired. Watching Amy Dowden return to Strictly at the weekend made me smile. She was fabulous – she’s going to feel exhausted! She will have worked so, so hard to get back to fitness.

And there’s no bigger reminder that Christmas is on the way than the return of that show. The 100-day countdown started this week, folks.

For me that’s a milestone, and they’re always good for me. I’ve reached them before, and I’ll do the same again. Whether my hair does though, is another matter.