Elle Macpherson has revealed her secret battle with cancer seven years after being diagnosed and why she refused to undergo chemotherapy.
The Australian supermodel, 60, dedicated a chapter of her recently published memoir to her holistic approach during her shocking illness.
She said she went against the advice of 32 doctors and experts to treat her breast cancer without the usual medical methods, she reported. Women’s weekly on Mondays.
After undergoing a lumpectomy seven years ago, the founder of WelleCo was diagnosed with HER2-positive estrogen-receptive intraductal carcinoma.
The doctor recommended that Elle, known in recent years for her holistic approach to wellness, undergo a mastectomy with radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and breast reconstruction to treat it.
“It was a shock, it was unexpected, it was confusing, it was daunting in a lot of ways and it really gave me the opportunity to dig deep into my inner sense to find a solution that would work for me,” Elle said of the diagnosis.
She added that walking away from the 32 doctors who recommended chemotherapy was “a wonderful exercise in being true to myself, trusting myself and trusting the nature of my body and the course of action I had chosen.”
Elle said she prayed and meditated on a beach in Miami to conclude that she didn’t want to treat her cancer with pharmaceuticals, but rather “an intuitive, holistic, heart-guided approach.”
Elle Macpherson, 60 (pictured), has revealed her secret battle with cancer seven years after being diagnosed and why she refused to undergo chemotherapy.
“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,” she explained, adding later that she thought chemotherapy and surgery were too “extreme.”
The model, known as The Body in her heyday, said “people thought I was crazy” but she still went ahead with a treatment plan that “resonated” with her, “addressing emotional and physical factors associated with breast cancer.”
Elle said she rented a house in Phoenix, Arizona, for eight months, where she “holistically treated” her cancer under the guidance of her primary care physician, a naturopathic doctor, a holistic dentist, an osteopath, a chiropractor and two therapists.
Left alone in the house, Elle said she spent her days “focusing and dedicating every minute to healing.”
According to Women’s Weekly on Monday, she said she had gone against the advice of 32 doctors and her family’s wishes to treat her breast cancer without standard medical methods. She is pictured with her sons Flynn, 26, and Cy, 21.
Although Elle is now in “clinical remission” – what she prefers to call “absolute wellness” – she said her sons Flynn, 26, and Cy, 21, and ex-partner Arpad “Arki” Busson had mixed reactions to her unusual approach to her cancer diagnosis.
Her youngest son was fully supportive of his famous mother because he believed chemotherapy was “a kiss of death,” but the eldest had his reservations.
“Flynn, who is more conventional, was not comfortable with my choice. But he is my son and he would support me in everything and love me despite my decisions, even if he didn’t agree with them,” she said.
As for Arki, from whom Elle split in 2005 after nearly ten years together, Flynn and Cy’s father “disagreed” with Elle’s methods but wrote her a letter telling her how “proud” he was of the “courage she was showing.”
Elle said she prayed and meditated on a beach in Miami to come to the conclusion that she didn’t want to treat her cancer with pharmaceuticals, but rather “an intuitive, holistic, heart-guided approach.”