“I’m living with it”: Olivia Newton-John not giving up despite advanced cancer diagnosis
Cancer is an illness that no one ever wants to face, but Olivia Newton-John is remaining optimistic as she battles stage four breast cancer.
Appearing on 60 Minutes on Sunday night, the Grease star said her health issues are not “a battle or a war”, after being diagnosed for the third time in 2017.
“I’m so lucky that I’ve been through this three times and I’m still here. I’m living with it,” she said. “Every day is a gift now, particularly now.”
The 70-year-old first suffered from the condition in 1992, after doctors discovered a lump on her right breast.
She underwent a partial mastectomy and six months of treatment, which included herbal formulas, meditation and a change in her diet and fitness routine before she was told that she was free from the disease.
Olivia Newton John has always been one of us. Inspiring even as she fights the darkest of diseases: stage four cancer. @OliviaNJ #60Mins pic.twitter.com/rbX7akEtnL
— 60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) August 4, 2019
But that was just the beginning, as tragically, the star was told in 2013 that she had been diagnosed with cancer in her shoulder after being involved in a car accident.
Newton-John is open about her health journey as back in September 2018, she revealed that instead of taking the traditional approach, she will be healing herself with “modern” medicines.
She also mentioned that she cut out sugar completely and is taking cannabis oil as a pain killer.
“I see it as something in my body that I’m getting rid of. I don’t talk about a battle or a war,” she said over the weekend.
“I let it go and tell it to leave and talk to my body and tell it to heal itself.”
The triple-threat, who the media reported last year was “clinging to life”, said doctors had not told her how long she has to live, and even if they did, it wouldn’t affect her.
“I don’t read statistics. If you believe the statistics, you’re going to make them happen. If somebody tells you, ‘you have six months to live’, very possibly you will because you believe that.”
Also appearing on the current affairs program was Newton-John’s only daughter Chloe Lattanzi who was trying to hold back her emotions as she spoke about her mother.
“We don’t talk about it. No, we don’t talk about it,” she said.
“If she’s having a day where she needs to talk about it, I’m there to listen. I’ll never bring it up unless she wants to.”