Olivia Newton-John, who has been living with breast cancer off and on since 1992, shares that she’s come to a new point in her relationship with the disease: She’s asking it to leave.
"I've never seen cancer as a fight or a battle,” Newton-John, 71, told the Daily Stock Dish. “In fact, over the decades I've kind of befriended it — and right now I'm asking it to leave. Because instead of picking a fight with my body, I would rather keep calm and thank it for everything it has done for me."
Read MoreWhile her cancer entered remission, in 2013 her doctors discovered that it had metastasized (spread) beyond her breasts. She overcame the cancer again, but in 2017, her doctors discovered a tumor in her sacrum, the bone at the bottom of the spineanother cancer metastasis.
SurvivorNet spoke with Newton-John in August and she told us that although her cancer had metastasized to her bones, she’s doing well. "I'm mobile, I'm feeling strong, I've put on some weight.” she said. “Everything's good."
Part of the reason for Newton-John’s condition, she shared with SurvivorNet, is that she’s found a treatment regimen that seems to be working well for her.
The treatment involves a mixture of conventional cancer treatment (for Newton-John, this is a hormone therapy) and complementary herbal medicine. Her husband of 11 years, John Easterling, the founder and Chairman of Amazon Herb Company, makes her tinctures (liquid extracts) out of the cannabis that he grows. Newton-John also shared that she’s been taking natural supplements, including turkey tail (an antioxidant-rich mushroom extract), Graviola supplements (derived from a plant believed to have medicinal properties), vitamin B17, and high doses of vitamin C, which she says she's been getting through an Amazonian fruit called Camu Camu.
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Experts tell SurvivorNet that while alternative therapies can be helpful during cancer, they should never stand in the place of doctor-recommended treatment. Instead, these supplements should be taken in combination with conventional cancer treatmentand only after a doctor agrees it's a good idea.
Importantly, Newton-John shared that she's been doing exactly thatpairing these natural herbs and supplements with her conventional breast cancer treatment in a complementary approach called "integrative medicine." Right now, the star said she's receiving hormone therapy for her breast cancer, and in the past, she's undergone radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy.
“I believe in the holistic approach of using everything you can that you're comfortable with,” Newton-John told SurvivorNet. “So I do that.”
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