In Monday’s (March 27) episode of EastEnders, Lola Pearce-Brown (Danielle Harold) and Jay (Jamie Borthwick) experienced excruciating pain when Lola was called to an early appointment at the hospital and the couple received terrible news.
Lola learned that she had a brain tumour in the fall of last year. After an unsuccessful surgery to remove the whole tumour, she was informed that it was an untreatable, rapidly growing tumour.
Lola has made the decision to live her life to the fullest, and in February, she married her soul partner Jay in moving moments.
In addition to having a new husband and attempting to spend as much time as she can with her daughter Lexi (Isabella Brown), Lola just experienced the visit of her mother Emma (Patsy Kensit), which completely upended her life.
When Lola was a little toddler, Emma abandoned her but later gave an explanation, saying she had to leave Lola’s violent father. Emma was cautious and concealed things from her daughter, but lately she’s been more honest with Lola and has vowed to stick by her.
As for how long Lola has left to live, there was a rumour that she would pass away by Christmas because the recent episode of the show featured a special flash-forward sequence that showed a framed photo of Lola on the bar at the Queen Vic, which frequently occurs when a resident of Walford passes away.
Regrettably, when Jay informed Lola that the hospital had phoned and asked her to come in for an urgent appointment, we now know that it will be even sooner than that. The pair hoped it may be good news, but they were afraid it might be bad news instead.
Jay’s expression when they sat down in the doctor’s office showed that he already knew what was about to happen and that he had made an effort to be ready for it.
The doctor said that a recent scan had shown the tumour was growing again. The doctor said that any further chemotherapy would only be palliative when Lola questioned if it meant another round of chemotherapy.
As Lola became too upset to talk, she turned to Jay and asked the query they both feared hearing the answer to. He asked the doctor ‘how long? ’
The heartbreaking response, which caused Lola to start crying, was “We’re talking six months at best.”
EastEnders continues Tuesday March 28 at 7:30pm on BBC One.