When Edwina Bartholomew turned 40, she got a blood test.
The Sunrise host thought the blood test would give her an indicator of her general health, instead she received a shocking diagnosis.
The 42-year-old was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), a blood and bone marrow cancer that she’s currently undergoing treatment for.
“It came as a real shock,” she recently said on the Table Talk With Doug podcast. “The only sign was fatigue, but who isn’t tired with kids and shift work?”
Edwina takes daily medication for the condition and is happy to share that it’s almost in remission.
“It’s pretty much in remission,” she shared. “I’ve had such a great response to the medication. The traces are very low.”
Speaking to Stellar magazine at the end of last year, the mum-of-two said the diagnosis made her reassess how she was living her life.
“The 24/7 go, go, go approach I had to life for the past 40 years had to shift. This has definitely been a huge takeaway for me that life can’t continue like that. I’ve had to say to work, ‘I can’t now go back to work five days a week at 3am in the morning. It’s not something that I can do,’” she said.
“To their credit, Channel Seven has been phenomenal about that. Understanding that for my family, for me and my health, that’s not something I can do right now.
“Having to set really clear parameters around that isn’t something I’ve ever done before. It’s like I finally grew some balls after 20 years of working where I just said, ‘Right, these are the non-negotiables in my life and I will not compromise on my family, myself, my marriage, my life and my health’. And that’s it. And wow, that’s been powerful.”
The TV presenter and journalist says women are always putting themselves last and we need to start looking after ourselves more and investing in our own health.
“Being well isn’t selfish, it’s essential,” she said on Table Talk With Doug. “Slow down, carve out time for yourself, and ask for help when you need it.”
At the start of the month, Edwina became an ambassador for The Leukaemia Foundation.
“When I first heard the words ‘you have cancer’, I had no idea what to expect and what was ahead. I thought there would be some kind of handbook to follow — but there wasn’t,” she said in a media release announcing the news.
“If I can help others to navigate what can be a scary diagnosis, it is a wonderful thing.”
Now, she has one message to other women.
“If you have that gut feeling something’s not right, get checked,” she said.
“The earlier you detect it, the better your chance of survival,” she added. “That’s the message we need to keep sharing.”
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