But it seems Jade Goody is determined not to allow her battle against cancer get the better of her.
The 27-year-old, who found fame after appearing on Big Brother, is holidaying in the Mediterranean as she takes time out from chemotherapy sessions.
Family time: Jade Goody takes a stroll with son Bobby on a beach in the southern Mediterranean
But while she managed a smile in the sunshine, she was still not confident enough to show that she has lost her hair because of the therapy.
She used a swimming hat to cover up during a trip to the beach with her sons Bobby, five, and four-year-old Freddie.
And in place of the bikini she wore on the beach in Abu Dhabi just over a year ago in November 2007, this time she chose a more concealing one-piece swimsuit.
Brave face: Jade did her best to enjoy her holiday escape
Miss Goody clearly has more energy than when she first began treatment. Then, she spoke of it being so debilitating that she could not climb stairs.
Yesterday, however, she managed to frolic in the surf with her boys and take a short swim.
She was diagnosed with cervical cancer last summer. Doctors have since given her a 40 per cent chance of survival.
She has already had surgery to remove a large tumour, along with her womb and ovaries.
In a recent interview she said: 'I'm realistic. I know that I might not have that long left.
'I have been - and still am - very poorly.
'I've been hanging on to life with my fingernails. But I will not let go.'
She said about her hair: 'You'd think I would have prepared for it, wouldn't you?
'But somehow it just made everything feel so real.
'I get hot flushes, I wake in the middle of the night with the bed sheets soaked in sweat and I have mood swings.
'I feel like a 50-year-old woman trapped in a 27-year-old's body.'
Fun in the sun: Jade, who recently revealed she has lost most of her hair because of cancer treatment, grins as she takes a dip
Quality time: Jade cuddles up to her eldest son Bobby in the surf
Despite her health troubles, Miss Goody went ahead with plans made earlier last year to appear in pantomime over Christmas.
She postponed her radiotheraphy sessions to fulfill her commitment to play the Wicked Queen in the Lincoln production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, insisting she was doing the show to provide for her sons.
After falling ill over Christmas, Miss Goody was forced to pull out of the production after spending the New Year's period in hospital.
Beach sports: Jade enjoyed a kickaround on the beach with her son bobby and some other children
Mummy's boy: Jade keeps a tight hold of her four-year-old son Freddie
