Olivia Newton-John used star power to help breast cancer patients

Newton-John was a prominent cancer patient, so she was approached to help raise funds and was a dramatic success. It was launched as a result of community members donating $17 million..

Professor Jonathan Sevon is a former medical director of cancer services and was part of the team that developed the center.

Her grandfather was the Nobel Prize-winning quantum physicist Max Born, her uncle Gustav Born was a medical researcher at Oxford University, and her brother Hugh was a highly respected infectious disease expert. As a result, she understood the importance of her research.

But in her own cancer journey, she also recognized the importance of caring for the whole person, along with the best cancer care hospitals offer.

“When she got cancer, she meditated and accessed a variety of other natural remedies, which helped her cope physically and emotionally alongside conventional treatments.

Newton-John knew there was an easy way to access these complementary therapies and wanted to make them more widely available.

With her support, she created the wellness center and program. “Her concept was that she wanted this kind of supportive care to be available to everyone, not just the rich,” Sebon said.

“You could say she was a little ahead of her time,” said Belinda Yeo, M.D., an oncologist at the center and a scientist at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Institute.

“Even if you walked into a large public hospital 10 or 15 years ago, you wouldn’t know there was a center where you could get a massage, go to a meditation session, or get acupuncture because of the hot flashes from the treatment. It’s hard to imagine.”

Loading

Newton-John himself was a cancer center patient for the last decade after participating in one of the fundraiser and later being hospitalized.

Since Newton-John was diagnosed in 1992, breast cancer survival has improved by more than 15% in Australia.

But Smith, from the University of Sydney, said we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to the need to improve support for people suffering from terminal illnesses.

Smith, who is also a consumer representative for Breast Cancer Network Australia, said many people do not have access to breast care nurses and support groups, despite improved treatment means they are living longer. know.

“I often say that I have more in common with people with stage 4 metastatic lung cancer… than with people with early-stage breast cancer,” she said.

Christine Blaine, a Victorian cancer patient, said Tuesday she was devastated death of newton john.

“Her journey, her positivity, it gave us hope,” Blaine, 57, said.

She has been receiving treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia at the center since 2016. Every three to four months, I drive four hours from my home in Koondrook on the Murray River in northern Victoria to Heidelberg for treatment.

Loading

Her husband, Paul, is also undergoing treatment for a non-malignant tumor in his back.

Brain said the Olivia Newton-John center is a place of rest during treatment and that she loves visiting the wellness center and chatting with other patients before an appointment.

“You’re at peace. It’s like a haven, a wellness center. It takes your thoughts away from therapy.”

The Morning Edition newsletter is your guide to the day’s most important and interesting articles, analysis and insights. SIGN UP HERE.