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Cameron Mathison knew something was wrong — and spent two years pushing for answers before an MRI revealed he had cancer.
The “General Hospital” star told Fox News Digital the frightening experience changed how he approaches his health, including knowing when to stop pushing his body.
“I just knew something was wrong,” said Mathison, who stars in Great American Media’s “A Very Arctic Christmas.”
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Mathison was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer, in 2019 after an MRI revealed a tumor.
Before his diagnosis, the actor said he had gone to extraordinary lengths to monitor his health, undergoing bloodwork, gut microbiome testing and hormone evaluations. Despite those efforts, he said, troubling results left him searching for an explanation.
“I was a guy trying to do it right, but like I was alluding to, I was very extreme,” he said. “And I was doing these extreme things, and I was getting the blood tests, and … things were just off … they were like red flags.”
WATCH: CAMERON MATHISON FOUGHT FOR 2 YEARS TO GET LIFE-SAVING MRI
The experience left him with a message for others facing unanswered health questions.
“One of the lessons is to be your own best advocate for your health,” he said.
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Surviving cancer also prompted Mathison to rethink his approach to fitness. After years of pushing himself, he said he now recognizes the importance of rest and recovery.
But his cancer battle was only part of a painful series of losses.
Mathison also faced his mother’s death, the end of his 22-year marriage and the loss of his family home in a wildfire. He also lost his hosting job when Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family” was canceled.
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“In fact, at the time, going through a divorce which was very heartbreaking for me, I had just lost my mom, I had been through my cancer journey, I had all this loss, lost my job, and I was hanging onto that house,” he said.
As the losses mounted and his children left for college, Mathison found himself confronting a difficult question about his future.
“And it was like, ‘Now who do you want to be?’”
The actor said those experiences challenged the assumption that making the right choices guarantees decades ahead. Instead, he has found motivation in recognizing how quickly circumstances can change.
“You know, I may not make it home. Like, it sounds depressing, but it’s not. It’s actually very encouraging and very motivating because you don’t know how short life is going to be and to make it meaningful and be kind and loving and compassionate and wise and grateful in every moment is going to make the most of it,” he said.
WATCH: CAMERON MATHISON DISHES ON CO-STAR JILL WAGNER’S WILD PRANKSTER SIDE
That appreciation for family helped draw Mathison to “A Very Arctic Christmas,” which reunites him with “Lioness” star Jill Wagner.
Mathison plays Jim, a single father and former Major League Baseball player turned broadcaster, whose Arctic cruise with his 20-year-old daughter, Isla, takes an unexpected turn.
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A scheduling mix-up leaves the pair stranded after their ship departs without them. They turn to wildlife conservationist Jane, played by Wagner, to help them navigate the frozen wilderness. Maya Rose Skabar plays Isla.
Mathison said the script struck a personal chord because it was inspired in part by his relationship with his children, their travels and the challenges their family has faced in recent years.
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“There’s a lot of humor in it, there’s super, super touching moments in it. There’s romance, as we love in a Christmas movie,” he said.
He also praised Wagner’s sense of humor behind the scenes.
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“Jill is such a, sort of like a legend these days, and they see her as this sweet actress in a Christmas movie and then as a hardcore, I want to use a different word, but in ‘Lioness,’ Mathison said. “And … I don’t think in any of those roles you get to see her unbelievable sense of humor. She’s outrageous and so funny and is the queen of all pranks … She’s just so funny, so upbeat, so positive, energizer bunny and obviously just a wealth of talent.”
“A Very Arctic Christmas” is available to stream on Great American Pure Flix.
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