Cassandra Thorburn has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer.
The former wife of Today host Karl Stefanovic took to Instagram to share the heartbreaking news with a picture and video, both showing the journalist with a freshly-shaved head.
On Tuesday, the 54-year-old shared two pictures to the social media platform. One debuting her new hairstyle and the other showing her hair before the chop.
“Life really is like a box of chocolates and this chapter is giving me praline or truffle vibes,” she captioned the post.
She then hinted at the diagnosis, writing: “All kudos to the Toni and Guy pink scissors program for the kick arse clipper treatment by their wonderful Mosman team. It will grow back. Super grateful.”
Just a day later, she shared a candid video to Instagram in which she explained the health diagnosis to her 10,000 followers.
“I’m going to have to read this because on my walk this morning, I thought about all the reasons why I made that post yesterday,” she began the clip.
“Most of it is controlling the only part of my treatment and diagnosis that I can. That’s the part about when the hair comes off and when you tell people.
“For my adult children and for myself, I’m not interested in hiding and that’s because I’m not alone. I’m not walking a path that is not well travelled by many women before me and I will not be the last.”
She went on to reveal that she was battling a rare type of breast cancer and made the discovery during a routine check-up.
“Breast cancer affects one in seven women in New South Wales, which is where I live. I read that sitting for my mammogram not long ago and I was the one in seven that day.”
Gushing about the Aussie health system, she added: “My shout-out today is for NSW Breast Screen, who picked up my triple negative occult breast cancer, which is no small feat if you know what occult breast cancer is. I didn’t until now.”
“I thank them from the bottom of my heart. And when your mammogram reminder arrives in the mail, don’t dilly dally. Do as I did, book it straight away.”
She finished off the clip by sharing her state of mind after the diagnosis, assuring her followers that she wasn’t going to feel sorry for herself as she took on the diagnosis head-on.
“It may have flipped my world in days, but there’s no ‘why me?’ There’s no ‘poor me’ here. Just a desire to stop this in it’s tracks.”
She captioned the post: “Shout out to Breastscreen NSW. #tnbc.”
Triple-negative occult breast cancer is a rare and aggressive form of cancer where no tumour can be found in the breast. Instead, cancer cells which originated in the breast are discovered, usually in the lymph nodes in the armpit.
It is often treated with chemotherapy as hormone or HER2-targeted therapies do not work against it.
Thorburn was married to Stefanovic for 21 years before parting ways in 2016. The couple share three kids together: Jackson, 25, Ava, 19, and River, 18.