While Olivia Newton-John usually prefers to keep discussion of her heartbreaking illness to a minimum, the star recently opened up about having stage four cancer in a candid interview with Channel 9’s 60 Minutes.
The Australian icon was sadly diagnosed in 2017 after already beating the disease twice (in 1992 and 2013).
The 70-year-old told reporter Liz Hayes that it was “lucky” she was “still here” after battling cancer three times.
WATCH: Olivia Newton-John opens up about her battle with cancer
“I’m living with it,” the Grease star said. “Every day is a gift now, particularly now.”
Olivia was forced to set the record straight on her social media accounts earlier this year after rumours that she was at death’s door began to circulate.
The songstress said that while her diagnosis remains incurable, she believes death is a “long way away.”
“When you’re given a cancer diagnosis or a scary illness diagnosis, you are suddenly given a possibility of a time limit,” Olivia said.
“If you believe the statistics, you’re going to make them happen. If somebody tells you, ‘you have six months to live’, very possibly you will – because you believe that.”
“So for me, psychologically, it’s better not to have any ideas of what they expect or what the last person that had what you have lived – so I don’t tune in, it’s just better for me.”
The disease has now spread to her bones, but the two-time cancer survivor refuses to see it as a “demon”.
“It’s something that I’m living with but I don’t see it that way,” she said. “It’s a choice. Everything’s a choice.”
“I see it as something in my body that I’m getting rid of. I don’t talk about a battle or a war. I let it go and tell it to leave and talk to my body and tell it to heal itself.”
Oliva’s daughter Chloe Lattanzi also featured in the segment and expressed the anger she felt when learning her mother was fighting cancer for the third time.
Chloe also agreed with her mother in her decision to limit their discussion about her disease.
“We don’t talk about it,” the 33-year-old admitted. “No, we don’t need to talk about it.”
“If she’s having a day where she needs to talk about it, I’m there to listen. I’ll never bring it up unless she wants to,” Chloe – who describes herself as her mother’s “protector” – continued.
The feeling is mutual for Olivia.
“I know that she gets affected but she’s very strong and she doesn’t really show me that,” the Grammy-winner said.
Professor Jonathan Cebon, from the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, was asked whether Olivia could win against cancer.
“I think the question is ‘What is winning?’ If winning is to remain strong and to face the challenges and to not allow the disease to defeat your spirit, then she’s winning,” the doctor said.
“In terms of the biological effects of the disease, it’s in her bones, that requires medical treatment and she’s using everything she’s got to control the disease and she’s got it under control for now.”
“In the long term, stage four breast cancer’s not something we see as a curable disease.”
WATCH: Olivia Newton-John speaks candidly about her breast cancer battle
John Easterling, Olivia’s husband, is currently growing cannabis to help Olivia fight her stage four cancer.
Prior to using the substance, the Aussie actress says she experienced “months and months of excruciating, sleep-depriving, crying out loud pain.”
“When I broke my sacrum, I was on morphine because the pain was intense,” Olivia told Liz Hayes.
“I was terrified of starting it because I know it’s a hard thing to ween off but I am now off it and I weened myself off it with cannabis.”
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