- Sally Farmiloe-Neville is suffering from terminal breast cancer
- The actress and model has now undergone a non-invasive facelift
- The facelift, costing £2,000-£3,000, use ultrasound to target muscles
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It was crunch time. Five months after being so ill I was virtually written off for dead by friends and the medical profession alike, I had rallied and felt well enough to brave a public appearance.
The event was the Bafta Film Awards in February this year; the dress, a chiffon number, cut cleverly to disguise my pregnant-looking stomach – bloating being an unfortunate side effect of the steroids I’m on for my secondary stage four breast cancer. As I walked the red carpet, I thought I looked good.
But on closer inspection of the paparazzi pictures in the papers the next day, I was disappointed.
Feeling fabulous: Sally Farmiloe-Neville, pictured with her daughter Jade in May at the BAFTAs, after she underwent non-invasive plastic surgery
It wasn’t so much my figure, but my face that let me down. My eyes looked tired, my skin wrinkled and jowly. I had the air of someone sad and slightly dejected – two words I would never use to describe myself.
You might say that’s par for the course for someone who has a terminal illness. But I beg to differ.
It is more important than ever for me to look good, to show the world that, despite this dreadful disease, I am determined to enjoy life.
As a model and actress, my looks are not only inexorably linked to my identity and self-esteem, but to my career. And even if my income weren’t reliant on my appearance, I would still fight to make the most of it, because looking good makes me feel good. Talk to any woman with cancer and she’ll tell you the prospect of losing her hair is every bit as harrowing as the chemotherapy.
Luckily, my husband, Jeremy Neville, 61, a chartered surveyor, tells me I’m beautiful. He has even been well trained to buy the false eyelashes I am reluctant to leave our west London home without, now my own have fallen out.
Unhappy: Images of Sally at the BAFTA red carpet in 2013 made her desire a facelift
Nonetheless, since I was first diagnosed in May 2012, I’ve made it my mission to fight for my looks with the tenacity with which I have fought for my life.
I started my career by winning a ‘beautiful eyes’ contest in the Sixties and I’m certainly not going to let standards slip now.
But two rounds of chemo – the first after my diagnosis and the second that I’ve been on for nearly six months since discovering, last year, the cancer had spread to my liver and bones – have taken their toll.
My skin has a dryness not even the best creams can counter, while the steroids I take to combat the effects of chemotherapy have left it paper-thin. It bruises easily.
Touch it too hard and it will bleed. After those Bafta pictures, my confidence plummeted. So when I saw an article about a non-surgical facelift in The Mail on Sunday a week later, it felt like serendipity.
Here was a procedure that could give me back some youthful vigour without subjecting me to the surgeon’s scalpel – crucial because when your body is weakened by chemo, anything invasive is off limits.
Heyday: Sally is pictured in 1987, 25 years before her cancer diagnosis
Before my wedding in 2002, I had Botox. It gave me a droopy eyelid and the fringe I grew to disguise it made me look like a demented Yorkshire terrier.
A few years later, I tried again and ended up with an almighty black bruise on my chin.
I fared better with fillers, which softened the lines from my nose to my mouth, but post-cancer diagnosis they, too, were out of the question. The non-surgical facelift, which costs £2,000 to £3,000, works by using ultrasound to target the facial muscles.
The energy creates thousands of little holes in the tissue, which heal after two to three weeks, contracting and tightening the skin. To top it all off, it was done by a man who is, to put it bluntly, gorgeous.
Dr Georges Roman, from the Aesthetic Medical Clinic in central London, has had the procedure himself. He’s 49 but looks 39.
The procedure, last month, took 40 minutes.
A layer of ultrasound gel was spread on my face. Then Dr Roman moved the wand very slowly over my face.
The sensation was that of tiny little prickles; slightly uncomfortable but not painful.
After he’d finished half my face, he let me look in a mirror.
I was astounded – the side that had been targeted looked tighter and smoother. My skin was glowing rather than red. I was thrilled.
With every day that passed after that my skin got a little bit brighter. Better still, the benefits can last up to five years.
Ironically, I was booked to attend the Bafta TV awards just five days after the procedure – and three months after the initial Bafta pictures caused me dismay. It was to be the ultimate test.
Standing on the red carpet with my 22-year-old daughter Jade, wearing a feathered oyster-pink dress, I felt fabulous.
And the pictures didn’t disappoint. My agent has lined up some modelling jobs, including a semi-permanent make-up line I’m endorsing.
I’ve also been offered a role in a play in September which, depending on my health, I may accept.
Meanwhile, my cancer remains under control.
Tests last month revealed that the tumours in my liver have gone and there is only a tiny bit in my bones. My oncologist has dubbed me Lazarus as I have risen from the dead.
I hope I will inspire other women to realise that not only can they live a full life with cancer, but that they can do so while looking good.
My Left Boob: A Cancer Diary, by Sally Farmiloe-Neville, is published by Book Guild Publishing at £9.99. To order your copy at the special price of £8.99 with free pp, call the Mail Book Shop on 0844 472 4157 or go to mailbookshop.co.uk.
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The comments below have been moderated in advance.
By me for me,
England, United Kingdom,
3 hours ago
Really hope the cancer continues to remain under control and she has many happy years, looking fabulous!, to enjoy.
Brettblade,
Limassol,
3 hours ago
She looks lovely before and after, hope she wins.
jarrett,
Columbia,
4 hours ago
Your story is inspiring to everyone. And you look beautiful.
lol163,
London, United Kingdom,
5 hours ago
Brave and positive woman! God bless her with continual well-being.
Trevor,
monmouth,
6 hours ago
In her own way she’s fighting to maintain her quality of life, good luck to her I say.
maggie_may,
within my means, United Kingdom,
6 hours ago
Good for you Sally, keep being positive and wishing you all the best.
barry,
barnet,
6 hours ago
Good on her, its my view also. Not all people with terminal cancer (or illness) give up enjoying life. We can still have fun and at least we get to park our cars anywhere, using the Blue card. Therefore I tell people we get our perks with a terminal sickness!!!! Stay positive and live just that little bit longer and continue to buy new cloths!!!!!!
elgar61,
Fife,
6 hours ago
When I had breast cancer 8 years ago I was very particular about my makeup on the days I was well enough to be up and about. I loathed my wig so found loads of nice alternative headwear on the internet. I banned drab colours from my life. I also attended a Look Good, Feel Better makeup session and was given a bag containing about £200 worth of beauty items and perfume. It all helped me to cling on to my dignity and retired some of my confidence as I felt OK when I looked in the mirror. If it had not been for having no hair there were some days when you would not have known I was ill. Unfortunately this changed during my second round of chemo as I had very extreme side effects and ended up in hospital. By that point I looked so ill I hated looking at myself.
BROADSWORD,
Ryeford, United Kingdom,
8 hours ago
Yea…thought there would be another book involved..
madge53,
sittingbourne,
8 hours ago
For this lady looking her best is what keeps her morale up and in her health situation that is very important. if it makes her feel good about herself and she has the money who are we to criticise. She obviously cares for her family and her daughter is very pretty.
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