Kerri-Anne Kennerley vows to keep taking cancer drug despite vision loss

Kerri-Anne Kennerley has vowed to remain on her breast cancer prevention drug despite it causing her eyesight to deteriorate over the last few years.

The 64-year-old Aussie entertainment star was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, and later underwent surgery to remove two lumps as well as a course of radiation therapy. She’s remained on prevention drug tamoxifen ever since, and was unaware at first that one of its main side effects can be partial vision loss.

However, despite her eyesight deteriorating, she told Starts at 60 in an exclusive chat that she is determined to keep taking it to try to avoid another cancer scare in the future. 

“I had lens replacement several years ago which was really great, because I ended up with eye issues. It was terrific, but then my eyes started to deteriorate – which they shouldn’t have,” she explained.

“I realised it was a side effect of tamoxifen – a breast cancer drug. That made me realise that I needed to pay attention to it… Now I have reading glasses if it’s dark. 

Read more: Kerri-Anne Kennerley: My independent mum, 96, worries she’s not useful

“It’s important that people know that [it’s a side effect], I didn’t know about it and only found out recently.”

Kerri-Anne is still taking the medication, and has chosen to keep taking it at risk of her eyes deteriorating further. As it is, she hopes they’ve reached a limit now and will remain as they are.

“It gets to a level and that’s it. This is my sixth year on it, and the oncologist asked me, if I was prepared to, would I go back on it as another layer of protection. I didn’t have to, but given the fact you get another layer of protection, I thought it was worth it,” she added.

“I’m back to stage 1 in terms of breast cancer, it could happen again completely unrelated to the first time. It may happen twice, it may never happen, I just don’t know.”

Asked if she has regular check-ups now, she said: “Without question, I just get straight for the MRI every year and see that through.”

The TV favourite recently teamed up with Specsavers to encourage more Aussies to get their eyes checked more regularly, particularly as they get older. She was inspired to join the campaign following not only her own eye issues, but also her mother’s.

Read more: Kerri-Anne Kennerley’s sewing hack for wheelchair-bound husband

“There’s also hereditary things like macular degeneration. My mother was diagnosed at 90, now she’s 97 come September, so you probably get everything by that stage!” She joked. “It’s good because those hereditary conditions can be watched, and many are preventable if you get in early. You just never know.”

Kerri-Anne is also a carer for her husband John. He suffered severe spinal injuries after falling from a balcony at a golf course in May 2016, but while it takes up a lot of her time, she insisted it’s still just as important to remember her own health and to have the rest of his body – such as his eyes – checked out regularly too.

“When you have someone with an injury like John’s, you forget all the other things you’ve got to do,” she admitted. “The body will function just the same, but there’s things like dermatologists, eye specialists, all these other body parts that you may forget about.”

Meanwhile, new research, as part of the Specsavers campaign, revealed as many as two in three people over the age of 40 are currently experiencing an eye problem but failing to get checked by an optometrist.

For more information or to book an eye test, see the Specsavers website.

Have you had eye issues after taking cancer drug tamoxifen? Would you have made the same decision as Kerri-Anne?