Tennis: Navratilova says she is free of cancer
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Tennis legand Martina Navratilova had said in January that the cancer was in Stage 1.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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FLORIDA – Tennis great Martina Navratilova has revealed that she is cancer-free nearly four months after announcing she had been diagnosed with throat and breast cancer.
The Czech-American, who won a total of 59 Grand Slam titles across singles and doubles and is considered one of the greatest players, had earlier said in an update of her condition in January that the cancer was in Stage 1.
“As far as they know I’m cancer-free,” the 66-year-old Navratilova told Piers Morgan in an excerpt of a television interview set to be aired on Tuesday. “I still need to do the right breast probably with radiation but only for a couple of weeks and that’s more preventative than anything else.”
The cancer was discovered last November. She was previously diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 and recovered.
In an interview with The Guardian, Navratilova opened up on how she felt “very up and down” when she was undergoing radiation treatment on a daily basis for three weeks and three weekly rounds of chemotherapy.
She said that it was “definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done”.
“That was the hard part because the first week was both chemo and radiation at the same time,” she said. “When you start feeling lousy you’re not sure if it’s from the chemo or the proton.
“I didn’t really feel the proton until week three but then you get a sore mouth and your throat starts closing.
“Everything’s swollen and very uncomfortable, and the proton makes your saliva weird. You don’t really taste things the right way. Chemo does the same thing to your throat but then it makes it dry.
“So, you’re just hit from all ends and I don’t think the doctors do a very good job of telling you how the s**t is going to hit the fan.”
She also said that she had plans to adopt a child with her civil partner, Julia Lemigova, but decided against it to focus on treatment.
“I was in a total panic for three days thinking I may not see next Christmas,” Navratilova said.
“The bucket list came into my mind of all the things I wanted to do. And this may sound really shallow, but I was like, OK, which kick-ass car do I really want to drive if I live like a year?
“I’m still dealing with recovery but, overall, I think just really seize the days, you know. You can never have them back again.” REUTERS
