Famed model Elle Macpherson revealed on Monday that she's been living with a breast cancer diagnosis for seven years — all while eschewing chemotherapy.
In an interview with Australian Women’s Weekly, the 60-year-old explained why she opted against the standard treatment in favor of what she called a more "holistic" approach.
“It was a shock, it was unexpected, it was confusing, it was daunting in so many ways,” the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model said of the diagnosis in the interview published Monday. “And it really gave me an opportunity to dig deep in my inner sense to find a solution that worked for me."
Macpherson, who has an upcoming book, "elle," said it was difficult for her to take this nontraditional path.
"I chose an holistic approach. 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 wrote, according to excerpts quoted by Australian Women’s Weekly.
“Sometimes an authentic choice from the heart makes no sense to others … but it doesn’t have to."
She conceded this approach isn't for everyone.
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"People thought I was crazy but I knew I had to make a choice that truly resonated with me," Macpherson wrote. "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.”
Macpherson's two sons, Flynn, 19, and Cy, 14, disagreed over their mom's choices.
"Cy simply thought that chemo kills you. And so he never wanted me to do it because he thought that was a kiss of death," she wrote. "Flynn, being more conventional, wasn’t comfortable with my choice at all. He is my son, though, and would support me through anything and love me through my choices, even if he didn’t agree with them. My children were extremely supportive in their different ways but I knew they felt very scared."
Her medical team consists of a naturopathy practitioner, a holistic dentist, an osteopath, a chiropractor and therapists, according to Australian Women's Weekly.
She's alive and well today.
"In traditional terms, they’d say I’m in clinical remission, but I would say I’m in utter wellness. And I am!” Macpherson said.
“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."
Macpherson has a history of publicly embracing unconventional and controversial approaches to medicine. She once dated disgraced British physician Andrew Wakefield and helped him promote his anti-vaccine movie, “1986: The Act.”
Wakefield is best known for making a discredited link between measles vaccines and autism, a disproven claim that made him a prominent figure in the anti-vaccine movement.
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