Model Elle Macpherson was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago but refused chemotherapy, opting for non-pharmaceutical care and a holistic path.
Elle Macpherson reveals in her upcoming memoir that she was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago and is now in “clincical remission” after opting out of a traditional treatment path for the disease.
In “Elle: Life, Lessons, and Learning to Trust Yourself,” the Australian supermodel known as “the Body” said she had a lumpectomy after being diagnosed with the form of breast cancer known in the medical field as HER2 positive estrogen receptor (ER) positive ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
“It was a shock, it was unexpected, it was confusing, it was daunting in so many ways and it really gave me an opportunity to dig deep in my inner sense to find a solution that worked for me,” she told Australia’s Women’s Weekly about her diagnosis.
Macpherson said her doctor suggested that she have a mastectomy and undergo radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and reconstruction of her breast. She deliberated for several weeks about her care, but ultimately refused to undergo chemotherapy — despite the recommendation of 32 doctors and experts, she said — and took a holistic approach.
The 60-year-old said she came to “one of the biggest decisions of her life” after she went to a beach in Miami, prayed and meditated.
