Edwina Bartholomew’s emotional health update two years after leukaemia diagnosis: ‘I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been’

It’s been almost two years since Sunrise news presenter Edwina Bartholomew was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia. So how’s she feeling?

“I’m feeling really well,” she tells TV WEEK.

“I just can’t believe how lucky I’ve been, just unbelievably lucky. 

“I responded straightaway to the medication. I haven’t had any side effects. I take it daily and I will continue to do so for many years. There is quite a high recurrence rate of CML if you go off the medication so I might as well just stay on it. It’s reassuring to know that I’m being treated on a daily basis and it’s all good. So I’ve been very, very fortunate.”

Edwina, 42, is currently working three days a week on Sunrise. The other four days she spends in the NSW Central West town of Carcoar, where she and husband Neil Varcoe, who have two children, six-year-old Molly and four-year-old Tommy, are renovating a 19th century hotel and also running a café.

As well as Edwina having leukaemia, Neil has had his own health issues in recent years, battling chronic fatigue syndrome. That’s influenced their decision to live in the country.

“It makes you really stop and think about what’s important,” Edwina says.

“For us, this was a really important move and a decision that we made for our family. And the wonderful thing is we have the flexibility of work to make it happen.

“It’s been a chance to put our health first but also to be able to still do the things we absolutely love doing.”

When it comes to the café that the couple bought earlier this year, Neil works behind the till, while Eddy “dips in and out” when she’s in town, “doing the washing-up, running orders…”

“I was in there yesterday and we ran out of chairs,” she says. “I had to bring in some chairs from outside.

“And I made some jam yesterday. It didn’t set, though. I’ve got to go back to the drawing board on that one.”