Australian icon and beloved comedy queen, Magda Szubanski, has been diagnosed with cancer.
The 64-year-old actor took to social media to announce the devastating news to her followers, revealing her stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma – “a rare and fast-moving blood cancer,” diagnosis.
Addressing the camera, Szubanski explained: “So the head is shaved in anticipation of it all falling out in a couple of weeks,” before revealing the reason why.
“It is one of the nasty ones unfortunately,” she said, admitting that while “it’s serious,” the actress has already begun treatment. “I’ve started one of the best treatments available (the Nordic protocol,) and I’m lucky to be getting absolutely world-class care here in Melbourne.”
In a move befitting of the beloved star’s comedic heart, after explaining to followers that receiving the cancer diagnosis has been “pretty confronting.. new treatments keep coming down the pipeline all the time,” before bursting into a fit of laughter. Smiling through the comments, she added, “what are you gonna do?”
Magda Szubanski said the cancer diagnosis came after an unrelated screening. “This is an obscure cancer and was only discovered incidentally via a breast screen where they found my lymph nodes were up,” she wrote in the caption. “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!”
Szubanski has devoted her life to advocating for a more inclusive world and throwing her influence behind incredible causes, such as LGBTQI+ rights and marriage equality. As one of the most vocal campaigners during the marriage equality postal vote, she also helped to raise over $275,000 on behalf of the Childrens Cancer Foundation in the name of charity ForLove.
“I barely made it through my childhood,” she told media at the time when asked about the postal vote. “I don’t want that to happen to any of these kids, and the fact that there are so many wrongs in the world that are so complicated and can’t be made right, this is a wrong that can be made right so simply if it had been passed in Parliament.”
More to come.
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