Linda Robson reveals terrifying health battle on Loose Women as she faces having organ removed despite having NO symptoms and ‘feeling healthy’

Linda Robson bravely opened up about her ongoing battle with gallstones during a very candid chat on Tuesday’s Loose Women, revealing that she may have to have her pancreas removed.

The 66-year-old TV star appeared alongside Ruth Langsford, Brenda Edwards and Janet Street-Porter and discussed how illness can affect your family, following Kate Middleton’s announcement that she has ended chemotherapy.

Discussing the headlines, Ruth remarked: ‘It affects everybody, it affects your relationships and how you all behave with each other.’

Suddenly, Linda chimed in with own health admission, and told the group: ‘Well I’ve had a bit of a health scare myself.

‘So, quite a few years ago I had gallstones and they damaged my pancreas, and they’ve been keeping an eye on me for a while now.le now.

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View galleryLinda Robson bravely opened up about her ongoing battle with gallstones during a very candid chat on Tuesday’s Loose Women , revealing that she may have to have her pancreas removed

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View galleryThe 66-year-old TV star appeared alongside Ruth Langsford , Brenda Edwards and Janet Street-Porter to discuss how illness can affect your family’I have to go back and have MRI’s and scans all the time but on the 20th September I’ll find out…,’ she trailed off before explaining further.Linda added: ‘Because I had a cyst on my pancreas and it’s gone from 1cm to 2cm so the kids have obviously been really worried about me.’Shocked by the candid admission, Ruth asked: ‘So this is happening right now?”Yeah,’ responded Linda, ‘If it is bad then they’re going to have to remove my pancreas, which means I’ll then be a diabetic. But fingers crossed it won’t happen, hopefully the cysts haven’t grown.

Adding that she feels ‘quite positive about it’ but her children are worried.

Later on in the programme, she remarked: ‘I feel healthy, I’ve got no signs of it and when I had pancreatitis before I was screaming in agony and being sick and everything, so hopefully it’s stayed the same size.’

Discussing the health scare, Ruth asked her co-star: ‘How do you deal with that as a family? Are you talking?’

Linda admitted: ‘I make jokes about it all the time because I try to diffuse them worrying about me.

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View gallerySuddenly, Linda chimed in with own health admission, and told the group: ‘Well I’ve had a bit of a health scare myself’

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View galleryThe health struggle comes after Linda revealed earlier this year that her children became her carers when she became ‘so low she couldn’t be left alone’ (pictured with her daughter Lauren)

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View gallerySpeaking on Loose Women in March, Linda explained: ‘My children were my carers when I was mentally ill. There was a point when I got so low I couldn’t be left alone’ (pictured with her son Louis)’When I did go to the hospital they came with me and taped everything the doctors said because I would have forgotten everything that they said.’

Linda has three children –  Louis, 32, and Roberta, 28, who she shares with her ex-husband Mark Dunford, and a third older daughter called Lauren who is from her previous relationship with Tony Tyler.

The health struggle comes after Linda revealed earlier this year that her children became her carers when she became ‘so low she couldn’t be left alone.’

The ITV star overcame an addiction to alcohol as well as struggles with depression and OCD, leading to three stints in rehab.

Speaking on Loose Women in March, Linda explained: ‘My children were my carers when I was mentally ill. There was a point when I got so low I couldn’t be left alone.’

‘I wasn’t allowed to see my grandchildren until I was better. It was four years ago now and they still say ”mum I’m so glad you are better, we never thought we’d get you back.’

Back in 2018, Linda became dependent on alcohol after bring prescribed a drug which was meant to help with her depression – leading to three stints in rehab.

Reflecting on the experience during a Loose Women episode, Linda explained: ‘I went through a really tough time, I was depressed and I turned to alcohol and had cleaning OCD.

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View gallery

Back in 2018, Linda became dependent on alcohol after bring prescribed a drug which was meant to help with her depression – leading to three stints in rehab (pictured: Linda with her daughters in 2011)

Gallstones are lumps of solid material that form in the gallbladder.

In the UK, up to one in 10 adults have the condition. It affects around 15 per cent of people in the US.

Gallstones can resemble grains of sand or large pebbles.

They are formed from chemicals in bile and can consist of just cholesterol, a mixture of calcium and a pigment from red blood cells, or a combination of the two.

Gallstones have been linked to high-cholesterol diets, as well as liver damage and fasting.

Most people are unaware they have gallstones.

The most common symptom is abdominal pain, which can last up to eight hours and be severe.

This may be mistaken for a heart attack.

Pain occurs due to the gallbladder trying to expel the stones.

If gallstones have been discovered via a scan for something else and are not causing symptoms, they are often left without treatment.

Gallbladder inflammation may require antibiotics to be administered in hospital.

Severe symptoms may lead to people having the organ removed.

The gallbladder, which is involved in digestion, is not essential for life.

Source: British Liver Trust

‘I used to always have a glass of wine or spritzers in the evening, come 10 o’clock at night, but never in the daytime. And then I got put on medication that sent me a bit mad.

‘I got put on a certain drug which was supposed to help the depression but it didn’t it just heightened it, so I had to go into three different establishments and it was the worst time in my life, I completely ruined my family’s lives’.

Recalling one specific low point, Linda referenced a trip she was on with fellow Loose Women pals – in which she had to return home early from.

She explained: ‘We were in Ibiza and I broke down in front of all the girls, Stacey had to take me home and she took me into The Priory.’

‘I had really bad depression and was self-harming, I was cleaning everywhere I went and washing my sheets every night when I got home’.

She took a year off from Loose Women, making her grand return to the show in January 2020.