Olivia Newton-John and her daughter Chloe Lattanzi have revealed how they’ve dealt with the musicians’ breast cancer – a diagnosis they refuse to call a ‘battle’.
The 70-year-old Australian singer was diagnosed with her third bout of cancer in 2017, after she was successfully cured of the disease twice in 1992 and 2013.
Speaking to 60 Minutes, Newton-John’s emotional 33-year-old daughter said she rarely brings up the illness in conversations with her mother.
The singing sensation recently turned to marijuana, grown in her backyard by her husband, John, saying the drug has improved her quality of life.
Grease star Olivia Newton-John (right) and her daughter Chloe Lattanzi (left) reveal how they’ve dealt with the musicians’ breast cancer – a diagnosis they refuse to call a ‘battle’
Newton-John, who has reached stage four of her cancer which resulted in a tumour in her lower back, says she refuses to see the illness as a demon she has to fight.
‘It’s something that I’m living with but I don’t see it that way. It’s a choice. Everything’s a choice,’ she said.
‘I see it as something in my body that I’m getting rid of. I don’t talk about a battle or a war. I let it go and tell it to leave and talk to my body and tell it to heal itself.’
The Grease star opened up on reports earlier this year that she had just weeks to live.
‘It was a weird feeling – to read that you’re dead – or that you’re dying – is a very strange experience,’ she said.
‘I decided you’ve got to see an end to this… the front page of all the tabloids and stuff… I just thought I’d just confront it rather than let this.
‘It was upsetting, it was a really strange feeling and then you think, maybe they know something I don’t.’
Newton-John said doctors didn’t tell her how long they expected her to live – but revealed she wouldn’t have taken any notice if they did.
Lattanzi admitted she was ‘angry, ‘in shock’ and in ‘denial’ when she learned of her mother’s third diagnosis of cancer
She described herself as her ‘mum’s protector’ and said not talking about the illness didn’t make the ‘monster’ to be ‘bigger than what it really was’
‘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,’ she said.
‘So for me, psychologically, it’s better not to have any ideas of what they expect or what the last person that had what you have lived – so I don’t tune in, it’s just better for me.’
Lattanzi admitted she was ‘angry, in shock’ and in ‘denial’ when she learned of her mother’s third diagnosis.
She described herself as her ‘mum’s protector’ and said she didn’t talk about the illness in a bid to not make it ‘bigger than what it really was’.
Newton-John said doctors didn’t tell her how long they expected her to live – but revealed she wouldn’t have taken any notice if they did
‘We don’t talk about it. No, we don’t need to talk about it,’ Lattanzi said in the interview as she fought back tears.
‘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.’
Prof. Jonathan Cebon, from the Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute, described Newton-John as a ‘trooper’ and ‘fighter’.
Prof. Cebon was asked what he thinks of Newton-John’s stage four diagnosis and whether she can ‘win’.
‘I think the question is ”What is winning?” If winning is to remain strong and to face the challenges and to not allow the disease to defeat your spirit, then she’s winning,’ he said.
‘In terms of the biological effects of the disease, it’s in her bones, that requires medical treatment and she’s using everything she’s got to control the disease and she’s got it under control for now.
Prof. Jonathan Cebon, from the Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute, described Newton-John as a ‘trooper’ and ‘fighter’
‘In the long term, stage four breast cancer’s not something we see as a curable disease.’
Researchers and clinicians at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute work to discover and develop research breakthroughs in a bid to deliver better health outcomes for patients.
Prof. Cebon said better treatment is ‘creeping up on us’ as researchers take incremental steps to help patients.
‘I don’t think there’s going to be a day when we open the paper and find that suddenly cancer’s been cured,’ he said.
‘What we’ll find is that for different types of cancer, better treatments become available and little by little we get towards a point where fewer and fewer people suffer from the disease.’
Newton-John has been fighting her illness with cannabis grown for her by her husband, John Easterling, in their Santa Barabara home in California.
Before turning to the plant she described as a ‘safe alternative,’ the actress went through ‘months and months of excruciating, sleep-depriving, crying out loud pain’.
‘When I broke my sacrum, I was on morphine because the pain was intense,’ she said.
Newton-John has been combatting her illness with cannabis grown for her by her husband, John Easterling (pictured(, in their Santa Barabara home in California
‘I was terrified of starting it because I know it’s a hard thing to ween off but I am now off it and I weened myself off it with cannabis.’
Newtown-John said she consulted the alternative treatment with her doctors, who were supported her decision.
The actress and her husband are now campaigning for medicinal cannabis to be legalised so Australians can have better access to the plant.
‘It’s not a drug. You see, that’s the problem. That’s a name thrown around with cannabis – it’s a herb and a plant,’ she said.
Before turning to the herb she described as a ‘safe alternative,’ the actress went through what she described as ‘months and months of excruciating, sleep-depriving, crying out loud pain’
The four-time Grammy winner was first diagnosed with cancer 27 years ago.
She also secretly battled breast cancer for a second time back in 2013 and in that same year, she tragically lost her sister Rona Newton-John to brain cancer.
Olivia announced her devastating cancer diagnosis in May 2017 after she was forced to postpone her tour dates in Canada and the U.S.
While Newton-John and her daughter don’t talk about the actress’ illness, she accompanied her to appointments
After believing her back pain was due to sciatica, doctors later confirmed that her breast cancer had metastasized to her sacrum as a tumour was found at the base of her spine.
Olivia was first treated for breast cancer in 1992, at the age of 43. She underwent a partial mastectomy, chemotherapy and breast reconstruction.
Throughout her career, she has sold a whopping 100 million records throughout her career.
While Newton-John and her daughter don’t talk about the actress’ illness, she accompanied her to appointments.
‘If anyone doesn’t deserve to go through cancer, it’s my mum,’ Lattanzi said.
The four-times Grammy winner was first diagnosed with cancer 27 years ago
Olivia Newton-John, 70, shares she is ‘thriving!’ despite third bout of cancer: ‘I’m doing well’
Olivia Newton-John recently said she was ‘thriving’ and ‘doing well’ despite being diagnosed with her third bout of cancer.
The 70-year-old Grease actress was first diagnosed with cancer in 1992.
‘I’m doing well. I’m thriving! This is my word,’ she told People Magazine.
She filmed a public service announcement with Dancers Against Cancer – an organisation for members of the dance community affected by the illness.
‘The dance performing community means a lot to me. I’ve always loved dancers and wished that I’d learnt when I was young,’ she said.
Positivity: Olivia Newton-John retained her famously sunny demeanor while discussing her third bout of cancer with People magazine this week; pictured lats January in Los Angeles
‘I used to do creative dance, but I never really learned it until I had to dance with Gene Kelly and John Travolta.
‘Lucky me, I got to do Dancing With The Stars long before it was a show.’
Newton-John underwent surgery and chemotherapy when she was first diagnosed.
‘I was lucky enough to have yoga and massage and homeopathy and meditation, and then I had a spell of years where I was okay. Then I have metastases now.’
‘I’m doing well’: ‘I’m thriving! This is my word,’ shared the 70-year-old platinum blonde Grease icon, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992; pictured onstage in Ventura last year
She discovered her second cancer when she suffered a car accident in 2013 and the medical attention she received uncovered the disease.
That same year, Olivia’s sister Rona tragically died of a brain tumor that doctors found just six weeks before her demise.
Although Olivia did not publicly discuss her second cancer diagnosis, she announced last year that she has the disease for the third time.
She made the revelation on Sunday Night, sharing that ‘I’m treating it naturally and doing really well.’
Along with radiation, Olivia is having her husband John Easterling, who founded the Amazon Herb Company, grow her cannabis legally in California.
History: The I Honestly Love You singer explained: ‘My cancer journey started in 1992, and I went through surgery and chemotherapy’; pictured last September in Melbourne