‘Biggest disruptions can open the door’: Poignant lesson behind Sunrise star’s hospital pic

The photo of Edwina Bartholomew was taken the day after the 2026 Logies. It showed the star smiling at the camera in a hospital room, with a tube snaking into her arm.

“I was getting an iron infusion at St Vincent’s Hospital, while watching My Brilliant Career on Netflix,” the Sunrise star shared in a message to her 237,000 Instagram followers on September 15. 

The image, the star said, was a reminder “that good health is the greatest privilege”.

Indeed, Edwina knows more than most not to take wellbeing for granted. Her post came almost exactly two years after she announced live on air that she was suffering from chronic myeloid leukaemia, a blood and bone marrow cancer.

Thankfully, following specialist help and daily medication, these days Edwina feels “really well” – and yet she knows just how precious that is.

On September 12, Eddy dug out her Logies dress again for a ball held by the Nelune Foundation – an organisation that helps patients fight cancer with dignity – and for whom she’s been an ambassador for more than a decade.

“When I became an Ambassador… I never imagined I would one day become a patient at the Nelune Cancer Centre at St Vincent’s,” the star candidly shared.

“It’s where I had my bone marrow biopsy and where I return every few months to check my blood count and get infusions.”

Now, as Eddy’s life post cancer-scare continues, insiders say the anniversary of her diagnosis has got her thinking more deeply about the journey she’s been on.

“It’s been a journey of highs and lows for Eddy, but through all of the challenges, she’s remained positive and focused on what matters most to her — her family,” a source tells Woman’s Day.

“If anything, her diagnosis has given Eddy an even greater appreciation for life. She’s always been someone who works hard, and that hasn’t changed, but her priorities have shifted.”

Certainly, the star – who still graces the screens of Sunrise while helping her husband Neil Varcoe work on the renovation of a boutique hotel in Carcoar, NSW – has been vocal about how her diagnosis changed her approach to life.

“A friend of mine described it as like an awful dose of mortality,” Edwina – who is mum to Molly, six, and Tommy, four – told Australian Women’s Weekly in an April 2025 interview.  

“You’ve realised that, in a second, you could lose it all. I’m so conscious that I could have gone into the doctor’s office that day, and they could have said anything. They could have said, ‘You’ve got two weeks to live’, or ‘Go sort out your affairs’, or ‘This is the end’.
But they didn’t.”

Now, insiders say, it’s a case of family comes first.

“At the end of the day, what matters most is being there for her children. She hasn’t exactly slowed down — she’s still juggling motherhood, her Sunrise commitments and projects like Carcoar — but she’s doing it with her family by her side,” the source tells Woman’s Day.

“She’s showing her kids what it means to be a strong, determined woman. She’s teaching them by example.”

The insider goes on to explain that there are, of course, moments where Eddy has to stop and “marvel” at everything she’s managed to achieve.

“Looking back, Eddy can see how profoundly that experience changed the way she thinks about life,” they share.

“It gave her the courage to stop putting off the things that mattered to her and Neil and to finally make space for the dream they’d been talking about for years. 

“Carcoar has become more than just a project — it’s a reminder that sometimes life’s biggest disruptions can open the door to an entirely new chapter.”