Magda Szubanski has shared an update about her health from her hospital bed as she continues treatment for an aggressive form of blood cancer.
Szubanski, well-known for her roles in Kath & Kim and Babe, posted a video to Instagram on Sunday to thank a young fan who had “really cheered me up” with her Book Week costume of Szubanski’s Kath & Kim character, the hapless netball fan Sharon Strzelecki.
“This is a special shout-out to little 10-year-old Annabella in Adelaide,” the 64-year-old actor said, adding: “Thank you so much for your ‘impression-ation’ of Sharon Strzelecki.
“I’m in here having chemo and it really cheered me up. I’m really touched and that was a beautiful thing to do. Thank you my sweet. Lots of love to you.”
In the caption, Szubanski wrote: “Chemo is smacking me around right now.”
The television cook Nigella Lawson and the comedian Dawn French were among thousands of commenters wishing her well, with Lawson writing: “Sending all the love in the world to you, Magda darling.”
Szubanski revealed in May that she had been diagnosed with stage-four mantle cell lymphoma, posting a video showing she had shaved her head “in anticipation of it all falling out in a couple of weeks” as she underwent treatment in Melbourne.
She said the cancer had been discovered “incidentally” after she underwent a breast screening that showed her lymph nodes were swollen.
In August she was inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame, with the likes of the film-maker George Miller, Kath & Kim’s Gina Riley, Richard E Grant and the politician Penny Wong all paying tribute. The US comedy actor Melissa McCarthy called her “one of the funniest humans, one of the smartest humans”.
Szubanski was unable to attend the ceremony, sending in an emotional taped speech instead.
“Let’s just get this out of the way – I am not being awarded this honour because I have got the cancer,” she said. “I am getting this because of 40 years of hard work – lobbying, bribing, threatening, whatever it took. Finally it has all paid off.”
She thanked the public for their messages of support. “The love and support I have felt, like a tsunami, from the Australian public has been overwhelming and I have to tell you, it really helps … when I go online and I look at those messages, every time my heart lifts and I feel that much stronger to deal with the cancer.”
