2 weeks ago
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Sunrise star Edwina Bartholomew says her cancer treatment is working and she is “really well”.
The 41-year-old revealed on Sunrise in September she had been diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia.
The mother-of-two said she received the diagnosis after blood tests in July and started treatment in early August.
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“I have been diagnosed with cancer. That’s a shock to say and hard to say,” Bartholomew said at the time.
“(But) it is a good kind — It’s called chronic myeloid leukaemia. It can be treated with a daily tablet. If I can take care of myself, I will be completely fine.
Speaking on the Stellar podcast Something To Talk About this week, Bartholomew said she was responding to the treatment.
“I’m really well, and I genuinely can say that now,” she said.
“My test results have been fantastic. I’ve responded really well to the medication. My alarm goes off twice a day, once at 3am to get up and once at 8pm to take my medication, a tablet that costs me about $30 per prescription ... My white blood cell count is almost back to normal,” she said.
Bartholomew said she would need to take the medication “for a couple of years at least” but “perspective and mindset have been a big part of the process”.
“People can live with this their entire life and because I caught it so early, I could be rid of it in a few years. Ever since this happened, I suddenly have just taken care of myself. I’m all the “frees”: gluten-free, coffee-free, alcohol-free, sugar-free.”
Edwina and her two children. Credit: Instagram However, the mother of two young children — Molly, 4, and Tom, 2 — said there had been an upside in that she was more focused on the day to day.
“I’m exercising, taking time out for myself, reading books. I’m much more present with my kids. I liken it to having an old-school camera and moving the focus. Suddenly everything is a bit sharper. That’s how it feels.
“I think until that point, I’d been really hyper-focused on life continuing as normal and this wasn’t going to change me. And then I realised, well, it has changed me innately, both physically and mentally.
“It makes you realise everything is about my husband, my kids and me in a beautifully selfish way. Everything in our lives now revolves around those important building blocks of our little lives. Other things don’t really matter,” she said.
However she said her two young children were unaware of the health battle.
“Because my kids are two and four, I never had to have the conversation with them, which is such a huge relief,” she said.
“For them, there’s no physical difference. I’m actually probably feeling better than I was, not as tired and taking care of myself better. So for them there’s only a plus side — because I’m around more and probably more present than I was before, deliberately.”
English (US) ·