Elle Macpherson has revealed she has been secretly battling breast cancer, but is now in remission despite refusing chemotherapy against the advice of “32 doctors and experts”.
The supermodel was diagnosed seven years ago and underwent a lumpectomy but opted against further treatment which went against her “belief system”, instead relying on an “intuitive, heart-led holistic approach”.
“It was a shock, it was unexpected, it was confusing, it was daunting in so many ways and it really gave me an opportunity to dig deep in my inner sense to find a solution that worked for me,” she said in an interview with Women’s Weekly.
Macpherson, 60, underwent the procedure to remove a tumour at the time before being diagnosed with HER2 positive oestrogen receptive intraductal carcinoma. Her doctor recommended she undergo a mastectomy with radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and breast reconstruction. However, she decided against the advice.
“I realised I was going to need my own truth, my belief system to support me through it,” she said.
She described her decision to go against traditional medicine as “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”.
In 2022, medical researchers at Yale found that those who used homeopathy and alternative remedies to treat cancer, were twice as likely to die from the disease.
The businesswoman who owns her own wellness brand, WelleCo, was dating anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield at the time, but says she did not take the decision to decline chemotherapy lightly.
Deliberating for several weeks, she explained that she sought advice from “32 doctors and experts” to make her decision. Finally going to a beach in Miami, she prayed and meditated to come to the conclusion.
She opted for an “intuitive, heart-led holistic approach” under the guidance of her primary doctor who specialises in integrative medicine. The alternative model uses a combination of lifestyle changes and therapies to treat and heal a person as a whole.
In her new self-titled book Elle: Life Lessons and Learning to Trust Yourself, she wrote it was the most difficult thing she has ever done in her life.
“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. She later describes feeling that chemotherapy and surgery were “extreme”.
Renting a house in Phoenix, Arizona, for eight months, she said she spent the time alone, “focusing and devoting every single minute to healing myself”.
Her family were divided over her decision. She said her “more conventional” 19-year-old son “wasn’t comfortable with my choice at all”, meanwhile her 14-year-old son “thought that chemo kills you”. Their father, and her ex-husband Arki Busson had a mixed reaction, being “supportive” but Macpherson admits, “he didn’t agree with what I was doing”.
She remained under the care of several specialists, including her primary doctor, a doctor of naturopathy, holistic dentist, osteopath, chiropractor and two therapists.
“In traditional terms, they’d say I’m in clinical remission, but I would say I’m in utter wellness. And I am!” she 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.”