Kylie Will Beat This
Breast cancer survivor Olivia Newton-John reaches out to her friend Kylie Minogue, offering her a loving message of hope
Music legend Olivia Newton-John, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992 and endured a partial mastectomy and six months of chemotherapy, has given protégé Kylie hope that she will beat the illness that has shocked the world.
“Cancer is not a death sentence”, Olivia says. “I’m living proof, and I tell women that.”
Olivia advises sufferers to “stay strong” and fight the disease 12,000 Australian women are diagnosed with each year. She says that learning to lean on loved ones for Kylie her close-knit family and lover Olivier Martinez -combined with expert medical help and alternative therapies can help women through.
“When everything went wrong for me, I realised you can go down the tube or you can fight,” Olivia says. “I realised I could fight. I’ve always appreciated life, but having breast cancer has made me even more aware of how lucky I am.”
Olivia will always be available to Kylie to “talk through the issues”. She, more than anyone, knows just what Kylie will be feeling right now.
“I was terrified,” she says of her own diagnosis at age 42. “Have you ever experienced dread? Like when your legs don’t want to move, or they feel too heavy? That’s how I felt.”
Olivia admits she feared the worst, but as with Kylie - who had exploratory procedures last week to determine the best treatment options - early detection was key.
Olivia, now 56 and cancer-free, used her experience to develop detection kits, dubbed “Liv Kits”, which help women examine their breasts for lumps. She sent one to Kylie, who’s understood to be vigilant about breast self-examination-a practice that led to her early diagnosis.
'When everything went you can go down the wrong, I realised tube or you can fight'
Kylie and Olivia have had an enduring friendship, with Kylie modelling much of her early career on the Grease star. Kylie paid tribute to her idol by including Olivia’s hit Physical in her Fever world tour. She also presented Olivia with an ARIA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002, when the bond between the pair was obvious.
But despite the high-profile support Kylie’s been receiving, it was clear all was not well in “Camp Kylie” when she set out on her Showgirl tour earlier this year. In an interview which now offers some insight into how long she may have been unwell, she told Time Out magazine that she’d been feeling out of sorts and “generally ill”. At one recent sold-out UK show, she even forgot the words to her signature hit I Should Be So Lucky.
“She hasn’t been really well for a while,” says a source who caught up with Kylie backstage at a recent Showgirl tour performance.
Another long-term friend of the star added, “I caught up with her just a few weeks ago and I was really struck by how thin she seemed.”
When Kylie stepped shivering from a plane in Melbourne recently for the planned the Australian leg of her tour, her worried family was shocked by her gaunt and pale appearance.
“It’s always strenuous for her on those tours, because it’s so big and everything revolves around her and everyone is relying on her,” Kylie’s Australian manager and tour promoter Michael Gudinski told Woman’s Day. “Obviously she might have had a feeling a while ago that something wasn’t right.”
The workaholic star admits she sometimes pushes herself too hard, particularly when embarking on a tour. At the urging of her concerned family, Kylie - who’s watched her father bravely battle prostate cancer for four years - spent what was supposed to be a relaxing break undergoing extensive medical tests. Last Tuesday morning, the worst possible news was confirmed.
“The entire family’s devastated. They couldn’t have gotten any worse news than this right now,” says a friend of the family. “Kylie and Dannii have been reeling from the death of their favourite uncle not that long ago, their dad has been battling ill health for quite a while, and now this.”
Michael Gudinski - who cried after learning of Kylie’s diagnosis says she’s “fit and a fighter and she’s hanging in there”.
“There is no procrastinating with this thing… it’s going to be dealt with immediately,” Michael says gravely of Kylie’s treatment options. “They seem to have caught it early, but time will tell. We all have our fingers crossed-but we’ll have no real idea for a week or two about what’s ahead.”
Kylie’s hoping her battle will inspire other women to be vigilant about breast examination and early detection. “She’ll feel she’s accomplished something out of this terrible situation if women out there get a breast examination in the next few weeks,” says Michael. “It’s the only positive you can get from a situation like this”
Story: Rachel Morris and Shane Sutton
Fears For Kylie's Family Dream
She’s confessed she wants to be a mum, but Kylie’s sad cancer bombshell has sparked fears that her dreams of motherhood may also be threatened.
While breast cancer itself doesn’t prevent pregnancy, some treatment regimens -including chemotherapy and hormone therapy - can affect fertility permanently, and others halt pregnancy plans for two to five years.
“Young women like Kylie, who haven’t had children and want them, have a lot to consider,” says Dr Shane White, from the breast clinic at Melbourne’s Austin Hospital. “For some young women, fertility is the paramount issue -not the breast cancer and their decisions regarding treatment options revolve around their desire to be mothers,” he says. “But for others, getting rid of the breast cancer is the most important issue.”
Figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that in 2001, women aged 35 to 49 accounted for 22% of those diagnosed -compared compared with 2% 2% aged under 35 and 76% aged 50 and above.
Does this destroy Kylie’s very public desire for children?
“Usually not,” says fertility specialist Dr Kate Stern from Melbourne IVF. “However, the drugs that are used for chemotherapy may reduce ovarian function and there is some chance they could make a woman infertile,” she explains.
“There are some options available which may help to both preserve fertility and protect the ovaries, although all these techniques are still experimental and we’re awaiting results from further studies.”
“For some women, who do not have hormone responsive tumours, freezing eggs or embryos may be an option - and some young women may wish to freeze ovarian tissue. There are also hormone suppressing agents which may protect the ovaries, although there are no big studies to confirm their benefit at this stage.”
Dr Stern says all young women with breast cancer should have an opportunity to meet with their cancer specialist or a fertility specialist to discuss their fertility options before treatment. “It’s certainly something to consider and it’s a realistic option for many”.
Women aged 40-plus get free mammograms through BreastScreen, call 132 050 nationally. Woman under 40 years of age need to arrange a mammogram through their GP.
Story: Georgie Stansfield