Elle Macpherson has revealed her secret battle with cancer, seven years after being diagnosed, and why she refused chemotherapy.
The 60-year-old Australian supermodel devoted a chapter of her recently released memoir to her holistic approach to dealing with the shocking illness.
She said she went against the advice of 32 doctors and experts to treat her breast cancer without the usual medical methods, it reported Women’s weekly magazine on monday.
After undergoing breast-conserving surgery seven years ago, the WelleCo founder was diagnosed with HER2-positive estrogen-receptive intraductal carcinoma.
The doctor advised Elle, who has become known in recent years for her holistic approach to wellness, to undergo a mastectomy along with radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and breast reconstruction.
“It was a shock, it was unexpected, it was confusing, it was daunting in so many ways and it really gave me the opportunity to dig deep inside myself and find a solution that worked for me,” Elle said of the diagnosis.
She added that ignoring the 32 doctors who recommended chemotherapy was “a beautiful exercise in being true to myself, in trusting myself and the nature of my body and the course of action I had chosen.”
Elle said that after prayer and meditation on a beach in Miami, she came to the conclusion that she did not want to treat her cancer with drugs, but rather take an “intuitive, heart-led, holistic approach.”
Elle Macpherson, 60, (pictured) has revealed her secret battle with cancer seven years after being diagnosed and why she refused chemotherapy
“Saying no to standard medical solutions was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. But saying no to my own inner feelings would have been even harder,” she explained, later adding that she found chemotherapy and surgery too “extreme.”
The model, who was known as The Body in her heyday, said “people thought I was crazy” but she persevered with a treatment plan that “worked” for her and “addressed both emotional and physical factors associated with breast cancer”.
Elle said she rented a house in Phoenix, Arizona, for eight months, where she treated her cancer “holistically” under the guidance of her primary care doctor, a naturopath, holistic dentist, osteopath, chiropractor and two therapists.
Elle said she spent her days, home alone, “focusing and dedicating every minute to healing myself.”
She said she went against the advice of 32 doctors and her family’s wishes to treat her breast cancer without conventional medical methods, Women’s Weekly reported Monday. Pictured with her sons Flynn, 26, and Cy, 21
Although Elle is now in “clinical remission,” which she prefers to call “complete wellness,” she said her sons Flynn, 26, and Cy, 21, and her former partner Arpad “Arki” Busson had mixed reactions to her unusual approach to her cancer diagnosis.
Her youngest son fully supported his famous mother, as he considered chemotherapy “a kiss of death.” Her eldest son, however, had his reservations.
“Flynn, who is more conventional, was not comfortable with my choice at all. However, he is my son and would support me through everything and love me for my choices, even if he didn’t agree with them,” Elle said.
As for Arki, whom Elle divorced in 2005 after nearly a decade together, Flynn and Cy’s father “didn’t agree” with Elle’s methods, but he did write her a letter telling her how “proud” he was of “the courage I showed.”
Elle said she prayed and meditated on a beach in Miami before coming to the conclusion that she didn’t want to treat her cancer with drugs, but rather with “an intuitive, heart-led, holistic approach.”
