TV host tells of tough health battle

TONI STREET is tougher than she looks.

The 32-year-old Seven Sharp host told Woman’s Day magazine she has been living with ChurgStrauss syndrome for the past six months.

A life-threatening auto-immune disease, it causes inflammation of blood vessels that can have a detrimental effect on vital organ function and quality of life.

‘‘Time is critical,’’ Street said, when discussing the healthcare system and the case of Alex Renton and his mother’s desperate plight to keep him alive and well. Renton’s mother turned to medicinal cannabis in a last-ditch attempt to save her teenage son.

Live on air, Street deeply sympathised with the Renton family and their endless battle to help save the teenager.

‘‘Having spent the last three months dealing with the very best and worst of healthcare myself, I for one certainly won’t be quick to judge her.’’

Street, who gave birth to her second daughter in April, was diagnosed with the disease shortly after.

‘‘I managed to hold it together with the doctor, but I got out to the car and just burst into tears as I rang Matt and my parents,’’ Street said. ‘‘I was freaking out – the words ‘organ failure’ and ‘chemotherapy’ were so scary.’’ After learning of her rare diagnosis, Street had to undergo surgery to remove her gallbladder, as well as enduring regular hospital stints and ongoing blood tests.

She is now faced with the prospect of chemotherapy.

The presenter, who married former North Harbour Rugby halfback Matt France in 2009, is set to have IV steroid infusions several times a month over the next six months and plans to freeze her eggs because of the risk of infertility commonly associated with chemotherapy.

Street’s sights are set on spending time with her family. ‘‘It’s about enjoying the girls while they’re little,’’ she said.

When asked about ‘‘slowing down’’ at work in light of her health, particularly where the demanding role of Seven Sharp cohost is concerned, Street said, ‘‘I’d miss Mike [Hosking] too much.’’

Toni Street