Australian model Elle Macpherson is opening up on her secret breast cancer battle. The 60-year-old, who received her “shock” diagnosis seven years ago is now in “clinical remission.” Recalling her health scare journey in a recent interview, Macpherson revealed that she refused chemotherapy despite it being recommended by 32 doctors.

Elle Macpherson on why she refused chemo for her breast cancer

The WelleCo founder was diagnosed with HER2 positive Estrogen receptor (ER) positive ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) after a lumpectomy. “It was a shock, it was unexpected, it was confusing, it was daunting in 
so many ways,” she told Women's Weekly. While it was difficult on her, Macpherson saw this as “an opportunity to dig deep in my inner sense to find a solution that worked for me.”

Macpherson's revelation comes ahead of her upcoming memoir, which is slated for a November release. Titled Elle: Life, Lessons, and Learning to Trust Yourself, the memoir highlights the Aussie fashion icon's holistic approach and lifestyle changes that helped put her cancer in remission.

When she declared that she would not undergo radiation and chemotherapy, her friends and family did not entirely approve of it. “I realised I was going to need my own truth, my belief system to support me through it,” Macpherson, who played Janine Lecroix on the 1994 hit TV series Friends, told the outlet.

She continued, “And that’s what I did. So, it was a wonderful exercise in being true to myself, trusting myself and trusting the nature of my body and the course of action that I had chosen.” The Sirens star admitted that “people thought I was crazy.” But she stood her ground as she thought chemo and mastectomy sounded “too extreme.”

“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 said before adding that her choice of holistic and intuitive treatment not only “resonated” with her but helped her “address emotional as well as physical factors associated with breast cancer.”

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