Sally’s Check-up

Sally impressed me so much with her grace and maturity. That’s not a statement you say very often! Thursday she went to her doctor for a breast cancer check-up. 

She got the all clear, she is still cancer free. She was visibly relieved. So, I think, were we all.

She’d earlier had a bit of a snipe-fest with Jenny at the factory when she wanted to ensure she had the okay for the time off she needed. Jenny is throwing her weight around as the boss’ girlfriend, and that weight has increased by one carat. She is now wearing an engagement ring from Johnny.

Graciousness and good ideas

Later, after her check-up, she goes to the Rovers to chill a bit and relish her good news. She meets up with Kevin. And she does what I and others have been wondering about. She tells him she will pay half the cost of Sophie’s hospital bill in the USA. Kevin thanks her, says he’s chuffed for her, and leaves.

Jenny passes him on her way in, to Sally’s table. Sally groans, expecting more of the same nonsense from Jenny. But no, Jenny apologizes for her behaviour earlier and asks – sincerely – after Sally’s health. Sally is gracious to her. She doesn’t play lady of the manor or mouthy factory girl, just tells her how the check up went and how relieved she is.

Sally also tells her what her fear feels like, and how hard it is having breast cancer, then the treatment and the aftermath. She tells her about a young woman she saw in the waiting room, trying to cope with her illness and with her worries for her children.

It’s the big worries but also the little things that get you, Sally says. Something as simple as trying to find a good mastectomy bra, for example. And the lightbulb goes off in Jenny’s head. Back to the factory she goes. And the beginning of a very good storyline, I think, and a new product line, I hope, for Underworld.