Olivia Newton John

Hi everyone,

Todays news about ONJ has hit me really hard! My mum has SBC in her bones and Olivia was such an inspiration for us both. Knowing that she was living with and thriving with SBC gave us hope and optimism. I clung on to thoughts like this. If she lives a long time with this disease then so can my mum! It has been a coping mechanism.

It was the first time I broke down in tears over the news of a celebrity passing away. I’m really struggling with today. 

My mum started Cape and her first scan results have been good, so I pray she gets, at least, a year from this medication. Hopefully much longer  

If anyone is living well with SBC for many years, please leave a comment. It really helps! Or any positive stories of the drug Cape. I desperately need a lift ! 

Thank you xxxx

I’m not living with MBC breast cancer but I do have breast cancer right now and am going through chemotherapy. Olivia was definitely an inspiration but I think we all need to remember she survived 30 years with this thing. 30 years and by all accounts really thrived despite it. Shoot she survived 9 years with just MBC and from what I’ve read only did cannabis and radiation treatments. And 73 isn’t a super old age but she wasn’t a young woman when she died either. So I take comfort from that and I hope her family does, too. IMO she shows how possible it is to actually live with breast cancer instead of succumbing to it. Sure it took her life eventually but not until old age and that’s great. I mean we’re all going to die. At this point I would love to know I’d live to 73. 

Agreed that the news about Olivia Newton-John hits hard - maybe because, as you pointed out, she seemed to be living with BC in a way that was inspirational. Any news story about someone dying from BC sends me into a tailspin, even if I know the circumstances differed significantly from my own diagnosis and situation. Grease was the first film I saw in a cinema and I played the soundtrack on my stereo on repeat as a kid, so Olivia was a part of my formative years. Also, yesterday was my birthday, so I was already feeling a bit mortal – the news about Olivia just underscored that. Doing my best to follow her positive lead!

Hi secondary sister,

I have been living with secondary breast cancer in my bones for 4.5years I have only just started my second treatment Everolimus, bit of adjustment period but still living and working and still in the bones only.

Lisa B