Barbara-Lee Edwards talks about life after suffering brain bleed in 2020

SAN DIEGO — It seemed just like a regular night on December 23, 2020, when Barbara-Lee Edwards signed off at CBS 8 after anchoring the 11 p.m. newscast.  

CBS 8's Marcella Lee sat down to talk with her about that night and how her life has changed since her final broadcast. Here is a transcript of that conversation.

You can also see the extended interview here.

Marcella: What do you remember about that night, December 23, 2020?

Barbara-Lee: It was such a regular night. I finished the series [of newscasts] and we said goodbye to each other. And I took some pictures… because I look at Instagram and I look at that last picture I posted at work, never knowing how my life was going change in a matter of hours. 

I came home and I was just putting things away and I bent down to put a pair of shoes back and this incredible pain spread across the top of my head and down the back into my neck, like I'd never felt before. The doctor came back in and said you have a significant amount of blood on your brain.

Marcella: People hear bleeding on the brain and they think aneurysm or stroke. What did you have?

Barbara-Lee: This is very similar to that. But with a stroke or an aneurysm. It's an artery. This is a vein. So it's just that's the difference. It was called technically a subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Marcella: And when you did more research into this, it's not something that is often survivable.

Barbara-Lee: No, I think over half the people that suffer them don't survive.

Marcella: You're still healing, you're still recovering.

Barbara-Lee: My challenge now is if I had to work under something that was a pressure situation [or] time-sensitive, that I would struggle with - which is pretty much our job description. Can I operate at the level I was operating at before? No.

Marcella:  What year was it when you started?

Barbara-Lee:  That was 2001. That was my dream job. That job that I had. That was it. I loved it. I got to do some incredible things. 

I think the highlight of my career was being invited to the White House to interview President Obama one-on-one. I mean, that's just such a rare moment in a journalist's career. Not everybody gets to experience that...and I did. 

I got to go to New York once and host a show with Anderson Cooper, that was pretty cool. Yeah, it was fun. 

I work with Komen. I work with the Heart Association. And I've done so much work with the Humane Society. And I miss our Pet Friends segments when they would bring an adoptable pet. I miss that a lot. It was, you know, a little bright light and I would take the dog around and introduce them to everybody.

Marcella: You have had so much support from viewers in the community. I know they've reached out to you directly. What do you want to say to them?

Barbara-Lee: Thank you. The support I got from viewers has been absolutely overwhelming and heartwarming. And I got cards and messages. Because I didn't know for so long what the future held for me. And the station let me take my time. I wasn't able to answer some of their questions. I had a lot of people reach out to me and tell me about their experience with brain injury to which I also found very heartwarming and supportive.

Marcella:  I know you sat next to Carlo for what...12 years?

Barbara-Lee:  50 years!

Marcella:  Who’s counting?!

Marcella: He really misses you.

Barbara-Lee:  I miss him. He's just a big dork and I miss him all the time. We had moments as an anchor team, like laughing too hard on the commercial break over something trying to sort of lighten things up, you know, tears in our eyes, trying to get it under control. And I blame him for a lot of that. 

So much happiness. I mean people you know [say], 'oh, we're a team - we're like a family.' But I mean, we really have been.

 Marcella: And we've missed you so much. 

Barbara-Lee:  I've missed it.

Marcella:  It's not the same walking in. I don't get my makeup partner.

Barbara-Lee: Oh, the conversations we've had in that dressing room! 

I don't know what I'm going to do. Is it the way I thought my career would end? No, I had my 20-year marker coming up. I thought 'oh, maybe they'll have a cake for me in the newsroom.'

In life...you know if your older self could tell your younger self something, what would it be? And it would just be to not worry about little things. Don't worry about it. Because when something really happens, none of that matters anyway. You never know what life's gonna bring you. Seeing what's next for you, keeping an open mind - that's something that's new for me, but I like it. 

If I'm watching channel 8, I think 'oh, there's my friends!' That part's weird. 

I love seeing you at 5:00 though -  [Marcella] is good on the desk. 

This is also my dream place to live. So I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere. I've been very lucky - the job I had, the people I've worked with and the experiences that have come my way during the last 20 years. I am nothing but thankful.

WATCH EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH BARBARA-LEE