Miriam Margolyes has expressed serious worries about her future needs as a result of her health.
The actor, famed for iconic roles in Harry Potter, Romeo + Juliet and Doctor Who, has spinal stenosis, a condition that occurs when the spinal canal or neural foramen narrows, putting pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots.
Despite her ill health, she continues to work in the entertainment industry - in order to cover her medical expenses and potential future healthcare needs.
The NHS explains that spinal stenosis is a condition which causes the spinal canal to narrow - which in turn leads to a compression of the nerves in the legs.
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This means that standing up for a prolonged amount of time or walking can be painful.
Miriam also underwent a heart operation last year - a procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) - a preventative measure which stops a patient from requiring open heart surgery.
Last year Miriam told Jessie and Lennie Ware during an episode of Table Manners podcast: "I’ve got a cow’s heart now. Well, not the whole heart. I’ve had an aortic valve replaced by a cow’s aortic valve.
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"I don’t know how common it is. I’d never heard of that operation. But it saves you from having open heart surgery, which would be infinitely more invasive."
Miriam recently told the Radio Times about her need to carry on walking in the event of healthcare bills in the future - and to look after her partner Heather Sutherland.
She said: "I’m worried that I won’t have enough money for carers when I finally get paralysed or whatever it is that’s going to happen to me.
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"I’m saving up cash so that I can pay people to look after me and my partner. We don’t have children, so I need to make sure I’m going to be looked after in the way that I’ve become accustomed."
Though it's not all necessity - Miriam does truly enjoy acting.
And in a recent interview with The Telegraph, Miriam opened up about only expecting to live for less than a decade longer.
She explained: "When you know that you haven’t got long to live - and I’m probably going to die within the next five or six years, if not before, I’m loath to leave behind performing. It’s such a joy."
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Miriam's most recently released project is the 2023 film My Happy Ending and her new BBC series, A New Australian Adventure, is set to air next month.
Kya Buller