Actor Cameron Mathison says it took two years of persistent effort before doctors finally gave him the MRI that revealed he had cancer — an experience he says taught him that patients must be willing to advocate for themselves rather than wait for answers to come.
Mathison, known for his role on “General Hospital” and now starring in Great American Media’s “A Very Arctic Christmas,” was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma, a form of kidney cancer, in 2019 after an MRI finally revealed a tumor.
In the lead-up to that diagnosis, Mathison told Fox News Digital he had already been monitoring his health closely, undergoing bloodwork, gut microbiome testing and hormone evaluations. Even with that level of scrutiny, something still felt wrong.
“I just knew something was wrong,” he said.
He described himself as someone trying to do everything right, even to an extreme degree, yet the test results kept pointing to problems he couldn’t ignore.
“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.”
His takeaway from the ordeal is a simple one he hopes others facing unexplained symptoms will take to heart.
“One of the lessons is to be your own best advocate for your health.”
The cancer battle also changed how Mathison approaches physical fitness. Where he once pushed his body hard, he says he’s come to understand the value of rest and recovery.
A Season of Loss
The cancer diagnosis arrived alongside a string of other hardships. Mathison’s mother died, his 22-year marriage ended, his family lost their home to a wildfire, and he lost his job hosting Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family” after the show was canceled.
“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.
With his children leaving for college on top of everything else, Mathison said he was forced to confront a fundamental question about who he wanted to become going forward.
Rather than leave him discouraged, he says the accumulated losses reshaped his outlook on how much time anyone can count on having.
“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.”
Back to Work, With Family in Mind
That renewed focus on family helped draw Mathison to “A Very Arctic Christmas,” which reunites him with “Lioness” star Jill Wagner. He plays Jim, a single father and former Major League Baseball player turned broadcaster, whose Arctic cruise with his 20-year-old daughter Isla — played by Maya Rose Skabar — goes sideways after a scheduling mix-up strands them when their ship departs without them. The pair turn to wildlife conservationist Jane, played by Wagner, to help them survive in the frozen wilderness.
Mathison said the story resonated with him personally, drawing in part on his own relationship with his children and the challenges his family has weathered in recent years.
“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 had praise for his co-star’s off-screen personality.
“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.’ 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.
