Sunrise star Edwina Bartholomew reveals cancer diagnosis in bid to make sure mums put health first

I read the news every day on Sunrise. Today, I shared some news of my own.

I have cancer.

It’s not the headline I expected to deliver about my own life, but I suppose no one ever does.

The type of cancer is Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia. It’s a good kind – if there is such a thing.

I can treat it with a daily tablet and if I take care of myself, I will be completely fine.

It’s the luckiest unlucky thing to ever happen to me.

So, how did I find it?

I recently turned 40 and decided it was finally time to get on top of my health.

I was asked in a number of interviews what I do to take care of myself. I gave generic answers about buying a bike to get fit, putting my phone away and taking some “me” time. The truth was, I wasn’t doing any of that.

Then one day, my four-year-old daughter jumped on top of me, and it hurt. I realised that although I’d been to the doctor for snotty noses and inexplicable toddler rashes many times, I hadn’t been to see a GP for myself since I was pregnant with my son — more than two years ago.

It was time to be proactive.

I soon found myself in a hospital room, waiting for a mammogram. You can imagine all the horrific scenarios that went through my head as I cursed myself for forgetting appointments and neglecting my health. In the end, the mammogram was clear but the routine blood tests my doctor sent me to do at the same time were not.

One was abnormal, some levels out of whack. She sent me back to do it again. It took me another month to pop into a pathology clinic. You know how it is; work to do, the house to clean, the laundry to do, the dinner to cook. I was busy.

That was Monday, the 29th of July.

The doctor called that night to check if I was OK. I said I had a little cold but was otherwise fine. She suggested I come in the next day when all my results were back. It was a sleepless night, and I was a little teary in the makeup chair on Tuesday and stressed during Sunrise.

Later that morning, the doctor called to say I should bring someone with me to the appointment. Not a good sign. By Thursday, I was having a bone marrow biopsy and by Saturday, I had started treatment.

It has been an absolute whirlwind.

Our kids are so young we don’t have to explain it to them right now, but I did want to take this opportunity to explain it to you.

I didn’t want to be interviewed and I didn’t want a sad photo of me here. That’s why you are reading my words, accompanied by a photo of my happy little family.

It was important to me to tell you my story because I suspect there are quite a few people out there suffering from a not-so-healthy dose of benign neglect, particularly mums like me. We often take care of everyone else in our family and forget to put on our own oxygen mask first.

If this sounds familiar to you, maybe it’s time to check in on your health as well.

What is clear from the past few months is that I need to dramatically change things. You will still see me on Sunrise but not all the time. I’m going to take a break for a few weeks and then come back to the studio just a few days a week.

I’m going to spend some time with my husband and wonderful little kids, Molly and Tom, genuinely going for bike rides, putting my phone away and taking some “me” time instead of just pretending.

Eddy xx