I Blame my Breast Cancer on Stress
Olivia Newton-John remembers with a shiver the moment she first suspected she had breast cancer. The fresh-faced singer says: “I just didn’t feel quite right. There wasn’t one thing I could put my finger on, but something was wrong. I had no energy at all, whereas I was usually boundless. I didn’t find a lump, although I had always had quite lumpy breasts and made a point of getting a check-up every three months.”
It took a string of tests and biopsies before Olivia was given the news she dreaded in July 1992. Olivia was shocked because she led a healthy lifestyle - eating properly and exercising regularly. She believes stress was the main cause of her illness.
Olivia, 46, says: “My mammogram didn’t show anything. I had a biopsy and again-nothing. But I knew I had a problem and so did my doctor. It just shows that you have to listen to your own body because if your mind isn’t at rest then something is up. Everyone is frightened of the word cancer but I was aware that it wasn’t an automatic death sentence.”
Olivia was right to take this positive attitude. In Britain thousands of women have been treated successfully thanks to the NHS breast-screening programme. Now the government has revealed new plans to improve the scheme. Prof. Nicholas Wald, of Barts Hospital London, found that taking two views of the breast helps pinpoint tumours more accurately. So from now on all women screened for the first time will have two views taken of each breast rather than just the one that has so far been relied upon.
There will also be new training schemes for radiologists so they can detect cancer more quickly and accurately. Samia al Qadhi, director of the charity Breast Cancer Care which offers emotional support and practical information to victims, says, “the new two-view system is a very positive move, which hopefully will lead to fewer recalls. Until now, women have often been recalled to examine the other view, which can cause worry or delay.”
Research has found that certain factors increase the risk of breast cancer - including a family history of the disease, Women with a mother or sister who have developed the diseases before the age of 40 could be carrying the breast cancer gene BRCA1. However, the cancer is only genetic in around 5 per cent of all cases, and some women who carry the gene never go onto develop the disease. But the findings struck fear among women - some even took the radical step of having healthy breasts removed for fear of what the future might hold.
Other factors such as early periods, late pregnancy, not breast feeding and high fat diets can also play a part - but it is not always possible to find a cause.
Olivia has always led a healthy lifestyle. She has never smoked, rarely drinks and exercises regularly. She’s convinced that her cancer was caused by stress.
Olivia says: “It’s a fact that if you are stressed your immune system is down and you can’t fight any disease. So although I ate well, exercised and took care of myself, I was still stressed out. My business was in trouble, my friend had just lost her child through cancer. I was trying to do it all. Women try hard to be everything to everyone and eventually something has to give.”
Britain has one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the world. Each year, around 16,000 women die from the disease and 26,000 new cases are diagnosed. One in 12 British women will fall prey to it in their lifetime but it is only in the last few years that the disease has been given the publicity it deserves.
High profile cases like Olivia’s help. And so does the work of Norma Major and Esther Rantzen who launched a $15 million appeal for a research centre three years ago.
Olivia - who now counsels other women with breast cancer says, “I’m determined to put my own experiences to good use. I do feel responsibility to other suffers now and I’ve had great feedback from it. Initially I did it for selfish reasons because I needed a way of coping but now I feel I owe it to others.”
Throughout her ordeal, husband Matt Lattanzi 35, was by her side but her daughter Chloe, then 6, knew nothing about her illness. She says: “When I was diagnosed as having breast cancer, Chloe was coming to terms with the death of a friend from cancer. I didn’t want her thinking I was going to die. Only when I was confident that everything was OK did I talk to her about it.”
After more than two years of treatment and a partial mastectomy, Olivia is certain she is back to perfect health. She Says: “Everything is fine. I go for check-ups. The doctors tell me that every year that goes by without a hitch is another big step.”
And she’s striking back with a powerful new album “Gaia: One Woman’s Journey” which she wrote while undergoing chemotherapy. She says: “I didn’t want to do a poor old me number. The album is very positive. As far as I m concerned, I’m over it. In the same way I knew something was wrong, I know I’m all right.”
By Claudia Connell