Elle Macpherson is opening up about her cancer journey for the first time in her new eponymously titled book, Elle.
The Australian Supermodel, now 60, devoted a chapter of her new book subtitled “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” to detailing her diagnosis and treatment.
“It was a shock, it was unexpected, it was confusing, it was daunting in so many ways,” she said of her diagnosis in an interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly. “And it really gave me an opportunity to dig deep in my inner sense to find a solution that worked for me…I realised I was going to need my own truth, my belief system to support me through it. And that’s what I did. So, it was a wonderful exercise in being true to myself, trusting myself and trusting the nature of my body and the course of action that I had chosen.”
Explaining that her doctor suggested a mastectomy with radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, plus reconstruction of her breast, Elle shares in her new book that she deliberated for several weeks, seeking advice from 32 doctors and experts before choosing her own path to treatment.
After praying and meditating she made one of the biggest decisions of her life: Not to undergo chemotherapy.
“I came to the understanding that there was no sure thing and absolutely no guarantees,” she writes in her new book. “There was no ‘right’ way, just the right way for me.”
Explaining that she opted for “an intuitive, heart-led, holistic approach” to treating her cancer under the guidance of her primary doctor who specialises in integrative medicine, she added, “I chose a holistic approach. Saying no to standard medical solutions was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. But saying no to my own inner sense would have been even harder.”
“Sometimes an authentic choice from the heart makes no sense to others … but it doesn’t have to. People thought I was crazy but I knew I had to make a choice that truly resonated with me. To me, that meant addressing emotional as well as physical factors associated with breast cancer. It was time for deep, inner reflection. And that took courage.”
Now in “clinical remission,” the Aussie model admits her decision received mixed reactions from her family.
“Cy simply thought that chemo kills you,” she said of her youngest child who was 14 at the time. “And so he never wanted me to do it because he thought that was a kiss of death.”
“Flynn, being more conventional, wasn’t comfortable with my choice at all,” she said of her then 19-year-old. “He is my son, though, and would support me through anything and love me through my choices, even if he didn’t agree with them. My children were extremely supportive in their different ways but I knew they felt very scared.”
She also revealed her former partner and the father of her children Arki Busson believed her choice was extreme. “Arki was really supportive … He didn’t agree with what I was doing … Yet he wrote to me to tell me how proud he was of the courage I was showing,” she explains. “Of course he was scared because I’d decided not to take a conventional pharmaceutical route. He considered that extreme. I, on the other hand, felt the chemo and surgery route was extreme.”
Following the release of her book, she admitted to AWW that her aim in telling her story was not to give advice, but rather share inspiration and encouragement.
“It’s not about giving advice to others,” she told the publication. “I’m simply sharing what I discovered through my own real experiences. I want to help and encourage others to follow their heart and give things a go … follow their heart in whatever they’re choosing to do, not just when in crisis but for decisions, big or small.
Elle by Elle Macpherson is on sale on September 3, 2024.
