Suzy Cato has shared a heartfelt message after revealing she had recently been admitted to hospital.
Taking to social media on Thursday, the beloved children’s entertainer shared an image of her hand with a plaster and hospital bracelet on her wrist.
“Nothing major!!!! but… one of the reasonsI’ve been a little quiet of late,” the post started.
“Very timely at this time of the year. This ‘pause’ has given me time to think, to reflect, to be close to whānau and to look to the future. Life is so precious.
“Look after yourself, my friend, and look after your whānau and those around you. Show kindness and be the happiness - it will make a difference to you as much as it makes a difference to those around you,” it continued.
“Life is too short to be mean or bitter or angry or to live in fear. [S**t] happens - to us all. Don’t dwell on it or stay in it.
“Sorry, this isn’t coming out quite how I want it to, but I’m just about to nod off again... Big hugs today and everyday. Arohanui,” the post ended.
Hundreds of messages of support have flooded Cato’s Instagram and Facebook comments section, giving their best wishes and hoping for a speedy recovery.
“I’d get up, have a bowl of porridge, then need another sleep by 10am and a nap in the afternoon,” she said at the time. “I was becoming very, very tired and the worst thing was, I couldn’t string a sentence together.
“My job is being a communicator – I’ve been speaking in public for decades – but whenever I opened my mouth, I’d just ramble. I thought there was something terribly wrong with me,” Cato said.
After the diagnosis, Cato said, “I was heartbroken at first because, as a family, we love our food and our baking. No cake! But we just started adapting recipes and using gluten-free flour. And as soon as I took the gluten out of my diet, I didn’t need to sleep several times a day, I was able to think clearly and could read books out loud quite coherently.”