Anna Bligh’s emotional journey back to Queensland

The former Queensland premier and newly appointed Leukaemia Foundation ambassador has opened up on her cancer journey to help “shine a light” on the disease.

The newly appointed Leukaemia Foundation Ambassador Anna Bligh. Photo: Josh O’Reilly.

Anna Bligh might have left Queensland more than a decade ago, but she still considers the Sunshine State to be ‘home’.

The former Queensland Premier, now based in Sydney and CEO of the Australian Banking Association, returned to Brisbane briefly last week in her new role as a Leukaemia Foundation Ambassador.

Bligh accepted the role of Ambassador, following her own diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2013.

In an exclusive interview with the Saturday Courier Mail, Bligh, who was declared cancer free six months after her diagnosis, said she missed “so many things about Queensland.”

“For a start it’s my home, so I miss that sense of being somewhere that’s mine and where I have very deep roots. I always feel when I get off the plane that feeling of ‘Oh, home’, and I think everyone knows and loves that feeling,” Bligh said.

Newly appointed Leukaemia Foundation Ambassador Anna Bligh with CEO Chris Tanti. Photo: Josh O’Reilly.

“One of the things I love about Queensland, and I can feel, is that it’s still a young State in terms of its development, and it’s got a real energy about it, and for me, I just love that energy.”

Her own energy was sorely tested after her cancer diagnosis, with Bligh accepting the role of Ambassador for the Leukaemia Foundation to help ‘shine a light’ on the disease, and its debilitating side-effects, particularly cancer related fatigue.

Speaking candidly about her own diagnosis, Bligh said she can still recall the shock of it.

“I just felt cold fear,” Bligh said. “I didn’t really know what it meant. I didn’t really know how serious it was, but when you hear the ‘C’ word, I think everyone just freezes with fear, and that’s what I did.

“My diagnosis came as a definite shock. I felt very well and healthy but I had a small lump on the side of my neck which everybody, all the doctors, anticipated was benign but when they took it out, it turned out it wasn’t. I was not expecting any bad news so to get the worst of news so apart from that cold terror I remember I had to ask the doctor to say everything over again because after I heard the cancer word I didn’t hear anywhere else.”

“When I was diagnosed with blood cancer, fatigue was not a side effect that was widely spoken about, and I had no idea of the impact it would have on my day-to-day life”, Bligh said.

“I’m a very active and energetic person so I hadn’t experienced that exhaustion before. After my treatment I was really ready to jump back into life but my body wasn’t ready, so I had to make a big effort to slow down. If I tried to do too much in the day, I would literally have to go and lie down.

Former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh.

“Coming out of it was much slower than I anticipated, and when you think about it, your body has had a very traumatic treatment, now thankful that treatment cures cancer, but it does leave quite a long tail of repair.”

Bligh is keen to support the Leukaemia Foundation’s new, evidence based, digital energy coach, which allows patients to track their sleep, nutrition, exercise, and energy levels, and receive advice tailored to their individual needs.

“I have personally tested the digital energy coach and firmly believe this is the ultimate ally in the battle against cancer related exhaustion,” Bligh said.

“There is no doubt this tool will assist thousands of blood cancer patients in Australia, and I’d encourage anyone experiencing this debilitating side effect to use it.”

While Bligh said her own cancer related fatigue has disappeared she knows many other cancer survivors are not as fortunate.

“We know that approximately one-quarter to one-third of cancer patients are living with persistent fatigue for up to 10 years after their diagnosis.

“I’m delighted to see the Foundation investing in a tool like the digital energy coach, particularly for people who have to live with this fatigue for years. Having experienced it just for the months that I did, I can’t imagine what that is like.”

And while the former Premier says she misses her one time home state, there’s one aspect of living in Queensland she is happy to do without.

“I don’t miss the humidity”, she laughed.

For more information or to access the Leukaemia Foundation’s digital energy coach

visit leukaemia.org.au/digital-energy-coach or call 1800 620 420.