"I say that I don't have Crohn's any more, but I'm not arrogant enough to think that it might not come back," Claire says.
"I say that I don't have Crohn's any more, but I'm not arrogant enough to think that it might not come back," Claire says.
For 20 years, Claire Chitham had been free from the symptoms of the autoimmune disease that had plagued her youth, but as 2020 brought lockdowns, a death in the family and her mother's cancer diagnosis, the actress feared a devastating relapse of the inflammatory bowel condition.
Chatting to Woman's Day in a bustling Auckland café, the former Shortland Street and Outrageous Fortune star, 42, says it was a cruel irony that she was writing a book about her experience of beating Crohn's disease at the time.
"My guts were a mess and I freaked out," she recalls. "I was like, 'This is the universe's way of saying you're a bloody idiot – you've written a book about how you healed your Crohn's and now you've given yourself the disease again!'"
Claire's year would have tested most people. Already stressed about meeting publishing deadlines amid a pandemic, she and co-author Kylie Bailey had just pressed "send" on the draft for their wellness book Good For You when Claire's aunt died following a long illness.
"My auntie passed away on a Thursday, we managed to have the funeral on a Monday and two days later, we went back into lockdown."
But it was the call from her 67-year-old mother Melanie a few days later that really shook Claire's world. "She was like, 'So, I've got some news. It seems I've got a bit of cancer.' She was very pragmatic and trying not to make us panic."
A surgery date was scheduled for four weeks later, but scans showed the tumour in her uterus was more aggressive than first thought. She was told she should have surgery as soon as Auckland came out of lockdown. With her dad Bryan, 74, in a rest home with dementia, Claire offered to be the one family member allowed in to support her mother under COVID restrictions.
Claire explains, "They were doing a hysterectomy, plus lymph node surgery, which is already complicated – and then there were bowel complications. I was expecting a call from the hospital at about 4pm to say she was out of surgery, but she didn't come out until something like 9pm. Those hours of waiting kind of killed me."
When Melanie was discharged from hospital, Claire moved home to help with her recovery. "Mum was a very good patient. She did everything she was told and she knew I was going to be annoyingly vigilant about her healthcare afterwards, which she patiently took."
But the months of stress started to catch up with Claire and her own health began to decline. "I was crying every day. I didn't have anything to cry over at that point, but my stress levels and anxiety levels had gone off piste."
Months of stress after her mum's diagnosis triggered Claire's own health problems. Photo / Supplied
It was then she recognised she needed to shift gears or risk getting sick herself. "I say that I don't have Crohn's any more, but I'm not arrogant enough to think that it might not come back.
"If I get too stressed, or I'm not doing the right kind of exercise for me or I'm too busy, I feel aspects of inflammation pop up in my body."
Her first step to address her stress was to call on a practitioner she trusted, and the second was to stop the daily red wine habit she'd cultivated over lockdown and continued through winter.
"I love a good cocktail or glass of wine, but I've never been someone who drinks during the week," she tells.
"I could feel myself reaching for a wine because I was upset or stressed, which is not how I want to use alcohol."
Sipping on a coffee, Claire is keen to point out that getting better hasn't meant giving up everything she loves.
"I eat a little bit of cheese, I drink caffeine and I have alcohol, but those were things I gave up at points of time to allow my body to heal."
Claire rose to fame playing Waverley Harrison on Shortland St. Photo / Supplied
When Claire was diagnosed with Crohn's at just 13 years old, she was told she'd likely be on medication for the rest of her life. But when she was hospitalised at 22 with chronic symptoms and forced to take time away from the job she loved on Shorty, she vowed to never end up so sick again. Faced with having a section of her bowel removed and being fitted with a colostomy bag, Claire took the prescribed medicine and then embarked on a mission to reduce inflammation in her body.
"I took the drugs, the drugs helped and once I got to the point that I wasn't in pain any more, I had to learn about my body so I could get off them. For the first 10 years after that, I spent a lot of time worrying about whether I was eating or doing the right things. I would walk into health stores, stare at the back of products and get really overwhelmed."
It's for this reason that Good For You includes a guide to therapies, practices and supplements she and former Woman's Day journalist Kylie have tried.
"We wanted to create a beautiful coffee-table book that is useful. We've included 76 things we've tried, tasted and tested, but of course we don't do all of them all the time.
"One of the key messages in the book is the idea that perfection in your health is an absolute myth. Through being sick and learning how to get healthy again, I've learnt it's always a work in progress. That is what I'm interested in – this idea that we have to engage in our health as a forever journey."
We stop the interview for a moment when Claire is summoned to another table by a familiar face, Kimbra, who is dining with a group of Kiwi musicians and TV producers ahead of her role as a judge on the reboot of reality series Popstars. The singer is a big Shorty fan and keen to meet the star she grew up watching.
Asked about her experience of being in the public eye, Claire insists she's always kept her feet on the ground. Photo / Supplied
Claire rejoins the table delighted by the interaction. "I was fangirling on her and she was fangirling on me!" she laughs. Asked about her experience of being in the public eye, Claire insists she's always kept her feet on the ground.
"The whole time I was on TV when I was younger, I was acutely aware it was an unusual situation. I didn't think I was going to be the most famous person in the world. In fact, probably the opposite – a bit 'tall poppy, keep your head down'. I knew this could all be over in a minute and wondered how the hell I got there."
Time spent living in Australia and Los Angeles in her 30s, after her 2009 divorce from broadcaster Mikey Havoc, were good for building her sense of self, says Claire.
"When I got the chance to leave, live overseas and be anonymous, I learnt a lot more about myself. I brought back with me a sense of what I want to create in the world."
It's this conviction that's allowed the happily single star to write Good For You. "I wouldn't have been ready or had the confidence to write this any earlier – the difference is, now I feel like I have 20 years behind me to say some things with clarity.
"Now the book is out, my focus is on building our website Good For You TV to become a resource that supports what we've shared in the book.
"As far as writing goes, though, I'm already moving on to my next project. I've been writing and developing my own TV series, and 2020 pushed that to the side, so now it's time to focus on that and see if I can finish it this time!"
