According to the Women’s Weekly, Elle Macpherson approached her breast cancer diagnosis the same way she has lived her life: “on her own terms”. Unconventional. Authentic. Real. She decided not to follow the “ordinary path” (so boring!) and, “eschewing traditional medicine, she instead chose a holistic approach”.
Eschewing, hey. The most important thing to note in this whole, irresponsibly publicised story is that this premise is false. Macpherson had a lumpectomy, which seems to have removed the cancer, or pre-cancer, that was found. Then decided not to have any potential follow-ups. In other words, she shunned medical treatment for cancer … after having medical treatment for cancer. To have a lumpectomy, then claim, as the Weekly reported, that anything other than science saved you, seems a stretch.
Elle Macpherson in a WelleCo campaign.Credit: Instagram
Here are the facts we know to date. This week the Weekly ran an interview with Macpherson about her new book, Elle, in which she revealed seven years ago she was diagnosed with cancer – HER2 positive oestrogen receptive intraductal carcinoma – and had a lump removed from her breast. Her doctor flagged a number of additional, more aggressive treatments which seemed to be aimed at reducing chances of recurrence, including, she says, a mastectomy with radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, plus breast reconstruction.
She consulted 32 doctors and experts, though it is baffling why such a significant number was required. Diagnosis is an awful, vulnerable time, and she was shocked and confused.
Meditating on a beach in Miami, Macpherson decided to refuse chemo. “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 then rented a house in Phoenix, Arizona, for eight months with a........