Actress Terri Dwyer has just made an appointment to see if she can be tested for the ovarian cancer gene.
And she is in no doubt that should she be found to have it, she will have a hysterectomy to ‘have it all taken away’.
“I would have no hesitation,” says the 40-year-old. “And that might sound blasé.
“But if it is a choice between being a grandmother and watching my children grow up, of having all that my mum didn’t, there really isn’t a choice to make.”
Terri’s mum, Doreen, died from ovarian cancer which spread to her lungs at just 44.
“I was 22 when mum died and it probably affects me more as I get closer to my mother’s death age.
“I have had two blood tests to screen for ovarian cancer, but they are not conclusive. Last year I had an ultrasound, but that is not conclusive either.
“But research into the disease has come on leaps and bounds, and I have discovered that you can test for the genes for ovarian cancer as well and I have just made an appointment with my GP to find out how I can go about it.
“If I am found to have the gene then I will have an operation.”
Terri, who lives in the Wirral with her husband, TV and film executive Sean Marley, and their sons Caiden, eight, and Kylan, four, adds: “We can be forewarned so it is ludicrous not to act on that.
“And I’m not scared of finding out.
“Whether I’m like this for having seen mum go through it, I don’t know. But I don’t want that. I’m amazed that some women bury their heads in the sand – I can’t do that.”
Former Hollyoaks actress and 60 Minute Makeover presenter Terri admits she is perhaps more aware of her own mortality than many.
“I had a car crash in which I nearly died, then I lost my mum and, then, I lost my dad. He died from cancer at the age of 50.
“So mortality is a very definite and real thing for me. It’s great if it isn’t an issue for other people, why would you think death could be just round the corner?
“But it’s cathartic for me to be pro-active.
“And supporting Ovacome, which raises awareness of this disease, and talking about it is important because if anybody reading this can get something from it, or learn about its symptoms, then it has achieved something.”
Terri is clearly and sensibly keeping her health in her sights, but don’t imagine for one minute that stops her living her life to the full too.
“I’ve got what I wanted, and I’m happy,” she says, although she laughs: “Being a parent is hard – and I’m not sure if people are honest enough about it at times.
“The responsibility of two human beings is huge. You want to make sure they grow up into good people, have a fulfilled life, help them have as much experience as you can and sit well with society. Some days you get it right, some days you think ‘what the hell and I doing?’ she laughs.
“Although I wonder if I’m a little too severe…
“The last time I was away working my eldest said to me ‘you need to come home now. Kylan is being naughty and you are much more strict than daddy’!
“But life is a gift. And I determine to make the most of every opportunity and every day.”
We haven’t seen as much of Terri on our TV screens as a presenter of late, after she made a conscious decision to get back to acting. She appeared on stage recently as Diana in Alan Ayckbourn’s Absent Friends and before that in Vagina Monologues, which toured the UK; and she has appeared in two films and TV series like Law and Order.
“I felt I had to make a choice,” she says. “Casting directors weren’t taking me seriously.
“And I have taken on roles and pushed myself, making me a better and braver actress.
“Now I would love to get back on telly and do something like a drama and be part of a team… I miss being part of making something as a working family.”
Terri is working hard – and she is happy.
“I’m in my 40s, happily married with two wonderful, healthy boys; and I’m on the stepping stones to the career I’ve always wanted.
“But I don’t want people to think ‘ooh, good for her’. I don’t sit here in my ivory tower, I simply feel I’m very lucky.
“I feel I shed enough tears back in my 20s to warrant the peace and equilibrium I have now.
“I think it’s been earned.”
