Breast cancer shocker
"Dying scares me" Shattered mom vows before undergoing surgery: "I'm going to beat this thing"
Olivia Newton-John is battling deadly breast cancer, but the pop singer is vowing to beat it for the sake of her precious 6-year-old daughter, a child she loves more than life itself.
“Dying scares me but what frightens me more is my baby growing up without a mother,” Olivia tearfully told a close friend.
The beautiful blonde star, 43, underwent a mastectomy at Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center July 14.
Just six days earlier doctors had made the chilling diagnosis that a lump in her right breast was malignant. What made the news even tougher for Olivia to take is the fact she’s a lifelong health and fitness fanatic, said her close friend.
“She lives on fresh fruit and vegetables, doesn’t drink or smoke, and keeps herself in tip-top shape with vigorous exercise. Olivia has taken such good care of herself that coming down with cancer just doesn’t make any sense to her.”
“The poor thing was shattered after receiving the diagnosis.”
“One minute Olivia was enjoying the prime of her life without a care in the world and the next she was grappling with the dreaded news that she had cancer.”
Crushing news comes as a double blow to star-she's a lifelong health and fitness fanatic
Olivia told a pal: “It’s like suddenly my life has turned into this horrible nightmare that I can’t wake up from.”
The nightmare began for Olivia, who’s been having regular examinations, when she found a lump in her right breast near the end of June, confided her close friend.
“She wasted no time. She made a medical appointment for July 1 and had a mammogram and a biopsy of the lump. But it took a week for the biopsy results to come back and during that week Olivia went through emotional torture.”
“Never was she more attached to her daughter Chloe than during that horrible week. The two of them went for long walks on the beach every day, picking up shells together and watching the sea gulls. At night Olivia sang lullabies to Chloe.”
“And Olivia’s husband Matt Lattanzi couldn’t have been more attentive. Each night he held Olivia in his arms as they watched the sunset over the Pacific, both of them choking back tears. Finally, on July 8, the biopsy results came in and the news wasn’t good. Olivia was told the lump in her breast was malignant.”
Doctors told her she would have to undergo a modified radical mastectomy followed by breast reconstruction.
“Matt held Olivia as she quietly sobbed on his shoulders,” said her close friend.
“Finally she composed her self. She told Matt, I’m going to beat this thing. I have to - for Chloe.”
Olivia waited until her child was in bed before telling her. “Darling, Mommy is sick and has to go to the hospital for a while. But she’s going to be just fine, honey. Then Olivia took Chloe in her arms and held her close as tears softly streamed down the singer’s face”, said her friend.
Her heartbreak was a far cry from her glittering life in the 1970s when she was one of the world’s hottest stars, scoring big with tunes including “Let Me Be There,” “Have You Never Been Mellow” and “I Honestly Love You.” In 1978 she starred in the smash movie musical “Grease.”
But after marrying 10-years-younger actor Matt Lattanzi in 1984 and having her daughter in January 1986, Olivia settled into a new role as a wife and mother at her Malibu beach home. The star even got involved in the environmental movement because she wanted to leave her child a better, cleaner world.
Only a few months ago the singer began planning a come back world tour, to be kicked off with a concert at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas August 6. But she’s put the tour on hold since learning she has cancer.
Overall, women with breast cancer have a 75 percent chance of surviving five years or longer, say cancer experts.
Olivia is bravely facing her crisis head-on. She told an other pal: “Chloe is my reason for living. When I feel her little arms around my neck, I think to my self that I can beat anything.”
“Her love is the best medicine in the world.”
By Robert G. Smith