Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson opened up this week for the first time about an aspect of her life that she’s kept secret for the past seven years: A battle with breast cancer, one fought without chemotherapy and other mainstream cancer treatments. Susan G. Komen, a leading breast cancer advocacy and research organization, responded to Macpherson’s news in a statement to Vanity Fair with both congratulations on her current good health and caution, saying, “No complementary or alternative therapy can prevent or cure cancer.”
While discussing her new book Elle: Life, Lessons, and Learning to Trust Yourself in an interview with Australia’s Women’s Weekly, published Monday, Macpherson revealed that she was diagnosed with a HER2 positive estrogen receptive intraductal carcinoma, with her doctor recommending a mastectomy and breast reconstruction, coupled with radiation, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy. Macpherson, who has been outspoken about her views against vaccines and other health issues in the past, consulted 32 doctors and experts, took several weeks to think, pray, meditate, and research on a beach in Miami, and then decided that instead of chemo, she’d use “an intuitive, heart-led, holistic approach” to fight her cancer, guided by a doctor who emphasizes integrative medicine.
“I realized I was going to need my own truth, my belief system, to support me through it,” she told Women’s Weekly. “And that’s what I did. 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.”
Representatives for Susan G. Komen, in a statement to VF, said, “We are thrilled to hear that Elle Macpherson is doing well and wish her all the best. Few people with breast cancer are treated with surgery alone. While surgery for early breast cancer removes the breast cancer, other treatments make sure all the cancer is gone and lowers the risk that breast cancer will return.”
“As a patient advocacy organization, we recognize that each breast cancer treatment has benefits and risks to consider,” the statement continues. “We encourage people to play an active role in making treatment decisions alongside their doctors by understanding their breast cancer diagnosis, their treatment options, and possible side effects to find a treatment plan that works best for them.”
In her forthcoming book, out November 19, Macpherson writes that “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 said she spent eight months in Phoenix, Arizona, “focusing and devoting every single minute to healing myself,” a choice that former partner Arki Busson “didn’t agree with,” according to Macpherson, but “was really supportive” nonetheless. “Of course he was scared because I’d decided not to take a conventional pharmaceutical route,” she said. “He considered that extreme. I, on the other hand, felt the chemo and surgery route was extreme.”
The couple’s two then-teenage sons were also scared for their mother and her available options of treatment, with one thinking that “chemo kills you,” and the other “being more conventional, wasn’t comfortable with my choice at all.”
She admits in her book: “I came to the understanding that there was no sure thing and absolutely no guarantees. There was no ‘right’ way, just the right way for me.
“I chose a holistic approach. “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.”
The experts at Susan G. Komen, however, firmly stated that “No complementary or alternative therapy can prevent or cure cancer.”
“Many people use complementary therapies, during or after their breast cancer care and have reported benefits, such as reduced side effects and improved quality of life, but complementary therapies do not treat breast cancer,” the organization stated.
“Standard medical treatments have been proven to reduce the chances of dying from breast cancer.”
After those long months Macpherson spent solo under the care of a team that included her primary doctor, a doctor of naturopathy, a holistic dentist, an osteopath, a chiropractor, and two therapists, she emerged.
“In traditional terms, they’d say I’m in clinical remission, but I would say I’m in utter wellness,” she told Women’s Weekly. “And I am! Truly, from every perspective, every blood test, every scan, every imaging test … but also emotionally, spiritually, and mentally—not only physically. It’s not only what your blood tests say, it’s how and why you are living your life on all levels.”
The model, who last year shared what she’s learned after marking 20 years of sobriety, urged people to listen to their own instincts about their health and life choices.
“It’s not about giving advice to others,” she said. “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.
“Learn to slow down and get very quiet and very still and feel what truly resonates with you without the outer distraction.”
A representative for Elle Macpherson did not immediately respond to Vanity Fair‘s request for comment.
link