Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
It was in May last year, after an epic tennis match at the home of the friend who wrote her hit song Physical, that Olivia Newton-John first began to struggle with lower back pain so bad she couldn't walk.
She thought it was sciatica, a nerve pain. It may well have been, because eventually her back felt better, and by May this year she was well enough to pick up a racquet again.
She hit gently and didn't play long, but the pain came back – with a vengeance. This time, it definitely wasn't sciatica. An MRI showed that, 25 years after her first breast cancer diagnosis, the cancer had returned, this time in a bone at the base of her spine known as the sacrum.
"I kind of felt innately that something wasn't right, this pain had been going on for a long time," Newton-John told The Sunday Telegraph in her first Australian interview since her diagnosis.
"It wasn't a total surprise, it wasn't a total shock – probably not the same as the first time."
The first time was in 1992, when Newton-John was diagnosed with breast cancer after finding a lump during a self-examination. She had a partial mastectomy and chemotherapy, and her treatment lasted almost a year.
Back then, a cancer diagnosis was considered a death sentence; many people kept it secret. "It wasn't something that was talked about much," says Newton-John. "It was frightening. It's always frightening, but it is something more known about now."
Cancer changed Newton-John's outlook on life. Ever since, her music has focused on healing and gratitude. Cancer survivors are as common as Grease fans at her concerts, and she is passionate about raising money for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in Melbourne.
So when she faced the disease a second time four months ago, Newton-John could not have been better prepared. "[This time I had] the wisdom to know that I had dealt with it before and could do it again," she said.
"Everybody has fear when you hear something scary, but I knew that part of the healing was to make the decision that you were going to work through it. You wouldn't be human if you didn't have moments of fear, but I was pretty determined that I would get through."
This time Newton-John was diagnosed with metastatic cancer, meaning the cancer in her bone was the same cancer she had suffered so long ago. It is a serious diagnosis, but that doesn't mean the disease can't be beaten or managed like a chronic illness.
She has responded well to treatment. "As far as I am concerned, my pain level is gone," she says. "I had terrible pain – I was limping and walking like a duck and a penguin for a while, [but] that part of it is gone.
"I am getting my mobility back to normal all the time, but I have done tests of course to see that things are better, have had my blood work tested, and these things lead me to believe that I am on top of it.
"I used to believe that cancer was one of those diseases that you can manage and live with. I know many women who have done that, that's what I imagine will be my life, but I am positive and hoping that I can get rid of it to the extent that everything is fine."
She has had photon radiation therapy, but also uses natural remedies. One of the most important of those is cannabis, which is legal and easily obtained in Newton-John's home state of California (her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, owns a cannabis farm in Oregon).
"I use medicinal cannabis, which is really important for pain and healing," she says. "It's a plant that has been maligned for so long, and has so many abilities to heal."
Newton-John says she will champion its use in Australia, where medicinal use was allowed by the federal government earlier this year, but obtaining the necessary permission – as well as the cannabis itself – is still a long, complicated process and can vary state to state.
"I will do what I can to encourage it," she says. "It's an important part of treatment, and it should be available. I use it for the pain and it's also a medicinal thing to do – the research shows it's really helpful."
Since her diagnosis, Newton-John has taken a long break on her farm.
She has learned to love swimming, the only exercise that doesn't put pressure on her bones.
Her husband John Easterling, has, she says, been "incredibly knowledgeable and smart and calm and loving".
She doesn't like talking about her cancer much, so Easterling – an expert on medicinal herbs from the Amazon – has been doing it on her behalf. "My husband has talked to my friends and explained what's going on," she says. "I need to focus on being around and being healthy."
While she will keep her workload light, Newton-John returned to the stage late last month and will tour again in October, singing songs from her Liv On album, which she wrote with two other musicians who have also been touched by cancer.
This weekend she returns to Australia to host a gala and a fundraising walk for the Olivia Newton-John Wellness and Research Centre at the Austin Hospital.
Friday night's gala will feature her close friends, singers Daryl Braitwaite, with whom she went to school, and John Farnham. This year, she wants to raise $1 million for the Centre.
"My dream is that the whole thing will be about wellness, [and] we will have a way of healing people," she says.
Next Sunday night she will give her first Australian television interview since her diagnosis to 60 Minutes, to raise awareness of the fundraising walk that will be held on September 17.
Newton-John's cancer relapse is also sending an important message to long-term breast cancer survivors to be vigilant, because the disease can return.
"I don't want to scare women that it could happen again, but it can, you don't know why," says Newton John.
Doctor Belinda Yeo, an oncologist and breast cancer specialist at the ONJ Centre, said late relapses were more common with hormone receptor positive breast cancer, the kind suffered by Newton-John.
"We are seeing it more because women are surviving longer, and we are keeping an eye on them longer," she says.
She would not comment specifically on Newton-John's case, but Dr Yeo said the severity of a relapse depended on where the cancer returned and how long it took to return.
"A long disease-free interval is a good prognostic marker," she said. "The patient will almost certainly respond to the treatment again. Many of our patients live for many years, very well and sometimes with very few symptoms."
Newton-John said she has been buoyed by the support she has received from around the world.
"People send me letters, just the most beautiful well wishes and prayers and love," she said. "I want them to know that the prayers have worked, and thank you."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: No Cookies | Daily Telegraph
Author: JORDAN BAKER
Contact: No Cookies | Daily Telegraph
Photo Credit: Robert Lynden
Website: No Cookies | Daily Telegraph
She thought it was sciatica, a nerve pain. It may well have been, because eventually her back felt better, and by May this year she was well enough to pick up a racquet again.
She hit gently and didn't play long, but the pain came back – with a vengeance. This time, it definitely wasn't sciatica. An MRI showed that, 25 years after her first breast cancer diagnosis, the cancer had returned, this time in a bone at the base of her spine known as the sacrum.
"I kind of felt innately that something wasn't right, this pain had been going on for a long time," Newton-John told The Sunday Telegraph in her first Australian interview since her diagnosis.
"It wasn't a total surprise, it wasn't a total shock – probably not the same as the first time."
The first time was in 1992, when Newton-John was diagnosed with breast cancer after finding a lump during a self-examination. She had a partial mastectomy and chemotherapy, and her treatment lasted almost a year.
Back then, a cancer diagnosis was considered a death sentence; many people kept it secret. "It wasn't something that was talked about much," says Newton-John. "It was frightening. It's always frightening, but it is something more known about now."
Cancer changed Newton-John's outlook on life. Ever since, her music has focused on healing and gratitude. Cancer survivors are as common as Grease fans at her concerts, and she is passionate about raising money for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in Melbourne.
So when she faced the disease a second time four months ago, Newton-John could not have been better prepared. "[This time I had] the wisdom to know that I had dealt with it before and could do it again," she said.
"Everybody has fear when you hear something scary, but I knew that part of the healing was to make the decision that you were going to work through it. You wouldn't be human if you didn't have moments of fear, but I was pretty determined that I would get through."
This time Newton-John was diagnosed with metastatic cancer, meaning the cancer in her bone was the same cancer she had suffered so long ago. It is a serious diagnosis, but that doesn't mean the disease can't be beaten or managed like a chronic illness.
She has responded well to treatment. "As far as I am concerned, my pain level is gone," she says. "I had terrible pain – I was limping and walking like a duck and a penguin for a while, [but] that part of it is gone.
"I am getting my mobility back to normal all the time, but I have done tests of course to see that things are better, have had my blood work tested, and these things lead me to believe that I am on top of it.
"I used to believe that cancer was one of those diseases that you can manage and live with. I know many women who have done that, that's what I imagine will be my life, but I am positive and hoping that I can get rid of it to the extent that everything is fine."
She has had photon radiation therapy, but also uses natural remedies. One of the most important of those is cannabis, which is legal and easily obtained in Newton-John's home state of California (her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, owns a cannabis farm in Oregon).
"I use medicinal cannabis, which is really important for pain and healing," she says. "It's a plant that has been maligned for so long, and has so many abilities to heal."
Newton-John says she will champion its use in Australia, where medicinal use was allowed by the federal government earlier this year, but obtaining the necessary permission – as well as the cannabis itself – is still a long, complicated process and can vary state to state.
"I will do what I can to encourage it," she says. "It's an important part of treatment, and it should be available. I use it for the pain and it's also a medicinal thing to do – the research shows it's really helpful."
Since her diagnosis, Newton-John has taken a long break on her farm.
She has learned to love swimming, the only exercise that doesn't put pressure on her bones.
Her husband John Easterling, has, she says, been "incredibly knowledgeable and smart and calm and loving".
She doesn't like talking about her cancer much, so Easterling – an expert on medicinal herbs from the Amazon – has been doing it on her behalf. "My husband has talked to my friends and explained what's going on," she says. "I need to focus on being around and being healthy."
While she will keep her workload light, Newton-John returned to the stage late last month and will tour again in October, singing songs from her Liv On album, which she wrote with two other musicians who have also been touched by cancer.
This weekend she returns to Australia to host a gala and a fundraising walk for the Olivia Newton-John Wellness and Research Centre at the Austin Hospital.
Friday night's gala will feature her close friends, singers Daryl Braitwaite, with whom she went to school, and John Farnham. This year, she wants to raise $1 million for the Centre.
"My dream is that the whole thing will be about wellness, [and] we will have a way of healing people," she says.
Next Sunday night she will give her first Australian television interview since her diagnosis to 60 Minutes, to raise awareness of the fundraising walk that will be held on September 17.
Newton-John's cancer relapse is also sending an important message to long-term breast cancer survivors to be vigilant, because the disease can return.
"I don't want to scare women that it could happen again, but it can, you don't know why," says Newton John.
Doctor Belinda Yeo, an oncologist and breast cancer specialist at the ONJ Centre, said late relapses were more common with hormone receptor positive breast cancer, the kind suffered by Newton-John.
"We are seeing it more because women are surviving longer, and we are keeping an eye on them longer," she says.
She would not comment specifically on Newton-John's case, but Dr Yeo said the severity of a relapse depended on where the cancer returned and how long it took to return.
"A long disease-free interval is a good prognostic marker," she said. "The patient will almost certainly respond to the treatment again. Many of our patients live for many years, very well and sometimes with very few symptoms."
Newton-John said she has been buoyed by the support she has received from around the world.
"People send me letters, just the most beautiful well wishes and prayers and love," she said. "I want them to know that the prayers have worked, and thank you."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: No Cookies | Daily Telegraph
Author: JORDAN BAKER
Contact: No Cookies | Daily Telegraph
Photo Credit: Robert Lynden
Website: No Cookies | Daily Telegraph
