‘Can’t continue like that’: Fallout from Edwina Bartholomew’s cancer diagnosis

Sunrise star Edwina Bartholomew opens up about the cancer diagnosis that changed everything – and the hardest people to break the news to.

Sunrise presenter Edwina Bartholomew talks about the life-changing cancer diagnosis she received earlier this year in a powerful interview with Stellar.

Speaking on the Stellar podcast Something To Talk About, Bartholomew opens up about the emotional moment she shared the news with her parents, and explains how it helped her to set boundaries around herself at work for the first time in her professional life.

Mum of two Bartholomew, 41, was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) in July – a blood and bone marrow cancer that is not terminal, and for which she receives regular treatment.

She broke the news to viewers on-air in early September, and told Stellar that while the illness is not terminal, it has forced some big changes in her life.

Eddie Bartholomew breaks the news to viewers …

… And gets comforted by her colleagues.

“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 revealed.

“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.”

Edwina Bartholomew for Stellar Magazine.

Bartholomew with husband Neil Varcoe and their kids.

Bartholomew said making the news public in September, some six weeks after she first found out herself, felt like a “weight off her shoulders.”

“Knowing I had the support of all my colleagues there and all my friends at home and family as well … I’ve never understood what it’s like to be in people’s thoughts and prayers, but now I do. That’s a pretty powerful thing.”

But she also revealed that there were two people she found it particularly difficult to break the news to: her parents, who she told in a “really emotional” conversation.

“Watching Dad find out was probably harder than watching Mum, because I think dads are often quite stoic, aren’t they? I was able to explain to Mum and Dad straight up the nuts and bolts and the practicalities of it, what would happen and the treatment – and that I had to have a biopsy to confirm it,” she said.

“And they’re fairly pragmatic people. It was a really emotional discussion but also they could see that it wasn’t the end of the world and I was going to be OK.”

What is chronic myeloid leukaemia?

According to the Leukaemia Foundation, Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. The foundation states that each year in Australia, around 330 people are diagnosed with the illness, making it a relatively rare type of cancer.

It is most common in adults over the age of 40, and develops so slowly that many people don’t exhibit any symptoms before the disease is picked up by a routine blood test.

Most people with CML are treated using drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), which work by putting the cancer in remission and have greatly improved survival rates. The Cleveland Clinic reports that five-year survival rates for those diagnosed with CML are 90%.

Listen to the full exclusive interview with Edwina Bartholomew on the new episode of the Stellar podcast Something To Talk About out now. For more from Stellar and Something To Talk About, click here.

Find more from Stellar via Instagram @stellarmag or pick up a copy inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA)

Originally published as ‘Can’t continue like that’: Fallout from Edwina Bartholomew’s cancer diagnosis