Magda Szubanski has revealed she has been diagnosed with a “very rare, very aggressive” blood cancer.
The 64-year-old actor and comedian announced her diagnosis with stage four mantle cell lymphoma, a uncommon and aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, on Thursday.
In a video shared on Instagram, she revealed she had shaved her head “in anticipation of it all falling out in a couple of weeks” and said she was currently undergoing treatment in Melbourne.
“I have just been diagnosed with a very rare, very aggressive lymphoma,” she said in the video. “It is one of the nasty ones, unfortunately. The good thing is I’m surrounded by beautiful friends and family and an incredible medical support team.
“I won’t sugar-coat it: it’s rough,” Szubanski wrote of her diagnosis. “But I’m hopeful. I’m being lovingly cared for by friends and family, my medical team is brilliant, and I’ve never felt more held by the people around me.
“I’ll be lying very low while my immune system takes a hammering, so if you see me out and about – don’t hug me, kiss me, or breathe anywhere near me! Wave enthusiastically from a safe distance and know I love you madly.”
She said the cancer was discovered “incidentally” after she underwent a breast screening that showed her lymph nodes were swollen.
“TBH, I’ve been feeling pretty ratshit for ages. So I asked for extra bloods and – voila! So the take away is – get tested and listen to your body!” she wrote. “For now, just know I’m in good hands, good spirits – but I reserve my yuman [sic] right to be a cranky old moll.”
Szubanski is well known for playing the hapless netball fan Sharon Strzelecki in Kath & Kim and her sketch comedy work with her Kath & Kim co-stars Gina Riley and Jane Turner in Fast Forward and Big Girl’s Blouse.
The actor has previously spoken publicly about being diagnosed with osteoarthritis and autoimmune arthritis. In 2022, while filming the ABC show Magda’s Big National Health Check, she learned on camera that she was at risk of developing diabetes and high cholesterol.
She told Guardian Australia in 2022 that making the show led her to start “taking my chronic health conditions more seriously, because I tend to just ride roughshod over them. But I’m a long way down the path – I don’t know whether I can turn around or not, to be really honest. I certainly haven’t given up.
“I’m a compulsively honest person – there is a lot of Sharon Strzelecki in me,” she added. “But fame can be tricky. I’ve been addressing some of the health issues that have come up since during the show, but I won’t say more, I don’t want everyone in my business.”
